Life as a Tamer: Book 1: Getting Used To It
by DigitalWarrior96
Summary: A digimon FanFiction based three years after the D-Reaper. Rika is still a little cold towards everyone but is learning to open up. The children go back to the Digital world to get their partners. (I do not own digimon, only OC characters that are listed in my profile). What do the enemies want? What is Ryo so concerned about? Find out inside.
1. Three years gone

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 1: Three years gone…_  
_**West Shinjuku.  
**_  
__'I can't believe I'm late on the first day! Mrs Asaji is going to kill me.' _A young boy ran through the streets of Shinjuku on his way to school. _'I better get a move on!'_

_'Hopefully she lets me off without making me stand in the hallway.'_ He chuckled softly to himself after that thought. _'Ha-ha, what am I thinking? Of course she won't.'_

Suddenly the wind picked up and blew his visor off of his head. "Ah! My lucky visor!" He exclaimed while chasing after it and finally catching it before the wind could pick it up again.

"Gotcha. Now any slight chance I did have of getting to school on time is gone." He said to no-one in particular. He set off at a sprint once again.

**West Shinjuku High**

"Wow, I can't believe Kazu's the one who's late this time." Mused Takato. A boy with a blue hooded jumper over a white shirt and grey three quarter pants.

"Well that's what you should expect from the leader of the Dimwit Duo." Said a fiery redhead.

"Hey! Who ever said Kazu is the leader?"

"Oh, be quiet Kenta." Rika snapped without even looking up from her work.

"Yes Rika…" The green haired boy named Kenta mumbled.

Suddenly a loud thud reverberated throughout the room followed by a faint groan coming from the other side of the door. Rika got up and opened the door and saw Kazu sitting on his backside, rubbing a bright red lump that appeared on his head.

"Hopefully that smacked some sense into you." Rika stated coldly, while Mrs Asaji looked over the lump on her students head.

She looked at him sternly. "I guess that's punishment enough for you being late, Kazu. I honestly expected Takato to be late today…"

"Hey!" Takato shouted, slightly offended at the teachers remark.

"Get over it Gogglehead, you've received worse insults." Rika said matter-of-factly while making her way back to her seat next to him.

'_At least one good thing came out of this year,' _Takato thought to himself. _'I get to sit next to Rika.' _He smiled ever so slightly at that thought.

After the fight against the D-Reaper, Rika had convinced her mother to take her out of private schooling and enroll her into the same school as the rest of the Tamers. Excluding Ryo, of course. Each year she had been put into a class with Takato, Kazu and Kenta. She had opted to sit next to the Gogglehead each year because she would have killed Kazu and Kenta within three minutes.

_'He's kinda cute when he smiles. WHAT!? Did I just seriously think that?'_ Rika shivered at the thought of actually thinking that the 'gogglehead' was cute. She shook the thought out of her head and sat down in her chair, promptly punching Takato in the arm.

_'Why did she punch me? Did I do something to make her mad like last time?'_ A deep, crimson blush crossed his face at the memory of what happened on the first day of school the year before.

**Flashback**

_Takato ran through the corridor on his way to class. "I can't…believe…I'm late…" He panted between breaths. As he ran from the corridor into his classroom, he ran right into a red haired girl and they both toppled over. Takato opened his eyes to see Rika's staring right into his soul, burning it._

_"GET OFF OF ME GOGGLEHEAD!" Rika roared as she blushed slightly at how close they both were._

_"Oh…I…I'm sorry Rika!" He stuttered, rather embarrassed at being on top of Rika and the fact her yelling bought everyone's gazes towards them. As he looked around he noticed Kazu, or rather, the look in his eyes signalling that he would never let him live it down._

_Then a fist collided with his hip. He had forgotten that he was still on top of Rika and was oblivious that with each passing second, Rika was not only getting more aggravated, but her blush was becoming a deeper shade of red._

_He rolled off of her in pain and stayed on the floor for a minute before getting up and cautiously making his way towards his seat next to her. When he sat down he looked at her to apologize again but she crossed her arms and looked away. Only acknowledging his apology with a 'Humph'._

**End Flashback**

"Takato…Takato!" Mrs Asaji tried to get the young boys attention but failed miserably.

"Allow me… GOGGLEHEAD, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Rika yelled directly into Takato's left ear and he fell out of his seat in reply, causing Kazu to start laughing.

"Ow, my head" He moaned as he got back up into his chair.

"Thank you, Rika." Mrs Asaji said to her before continuing on with a slightly dazed Takato. "Now can you tell me what I just repeated?"

"Uhh…We…have homework?" He stated uncertainly.

"No Takato, what I said is that the school is having the kitchens checked for mice and other rodents. So school will be closed just in case they do find something and have to drive them out and kill them."

Kenta went to raise his hand but Mrs Asaji already had an idea of what his question was. "No Kenta, I don't know why they didn't do it during the break."

Takato looked across the room while running a hand through his quickly brushed, but still messy, brown hair. He noticed the look of freedom in Kazu's eyes and chuckled. He noticed Kazu quickly scribble down a note and lob it onto his desk.

"**Hey chumley, we should all get together at the hideout tomorrow and hang out."** It read in Kazu's typically, messy handwriting.

"What's that?" Rika asked gesturing towards the paper.

"Kazu wants to know if we want to meet at the hideout tomorrow and just hang." He told her quietly as to avoid Mrs Asaji noticing that he was speaking.

"For once visor-boy has an idea I like. I wouldn't mind going to the park." She replied just as quiet.

Takato looked over to Kazu and gave him thumbs up, signalling that he and Rika were up for it. Kazu quickly scrawled another note and threw it to Takato when the teacher wasn't looking.

"**Kenta will go and ask Henry and Jeri later.**"

_'Looks like we're going to have a relaxing day.'_ Takato mused to himself drifting off into his daydreams again.

_'I don't understand how he can just drift off so easy.'_ Rika thought to herself while writing down notes from the board.

"Guilmon…" Takato mumbled, still lost in his daydream. Rika seemed to be the only one who noticed what he had said.

_'I guess that's how.'_ She thought glumly while remembering about her own partner Renamon.

_'It's been three years without them now. I wonder if they even remember us. Of course they do. How could they not considering all we went through with the Devas and the D-Reaper'_ Rika then started to drift off into her own thoughts but, unlike Takato, she had begun to stare at the board so if Mrs Asaji noticed then she wouldn't become suspicious to Rika's lack of work.

_'If only there was some other way that didn't involve sending them back…'_ Kazu thought, apparently along the same lines as Rika and Takato.

_'Guardromon wouldn't want me to get all depressed over this. He'd want me to have fun. It's what they'd all want. Besides, Takato promised Guilmon that they would see each other again and chumley hasn't failed us yet!'_ Kazu thought as the day slowed to an end.

End Chapter 1


	2. Finding something lost

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 2: Finding something lost…  
**Matsuki Household.  
**  
Takato woke up to the sound of his mother yelling from his doorway, reminding him that he was supposed to meet Henry and the others at the park. He quickly got up and threw on his usual attire: Blue hooded jumper, white undershirt and grey cargo shorts.

"Thanks mum! I'll be back before dinner!" Takato yelled while running out of the bakery, bag full of bread and fruit for everyone.

**Nonaka Household.**

"Grandma, I'm going out with Takato, Henry and the others. Everyone will be back at their houses for dinner." Rika said to her grandmother Seiko.

"Okay dear, have fun" Came the reply.

_'I'll try to have as much fun as I can with the dimwit duo there.'_ Rika sighed to herself as she ran towards the park. _'Maybe Takato can have a card game with me. Of course I'll win but Henry is – as much as I'd hate to admit it – a challenge sometimes.'_

**Shinjuku Park. **

"Hey Rika!" Takato called as she walked up the steps towards the old storage room where Takato used to hide Guilmon while he was at school. Every morning and afternoon he would make his way there to give Guilmon some day-old bread. The red saurian would eat the bread so fast that he would choke sometimes. On multiple occasions, Renamon would have to hit him with a 'Power Paw' attack so he would spit up the food.

"Hey Gogglehead." She replied.

"Will you ever call me by my name?" He questioned with a small frown on his features.

"You know I call everyone by the insults I first thought up for them. Kazu and Kenta are the dimwit duo, Ryo is Mr Perfect, Jeri is puppet-girl, you're gogglehead, Henry is brainiac and Guilmon was dino-boy. Who knows, maybe one day I'll call you by your name." She teased.

She looked across at the frown that had crossed his face at the mention of his old partner. She felt a small pang of guilt inside of herself and remembered that the Digimon disappearing had the biggest effect on Takato; after all, he had created Guilmon. They were a part of each other and felt each other's pain when Guilmon reached the Ultimate level.

"L…Look Goggles…I'm sorry for bringing up the Digimon again." She said to him after placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Rika. I still think about him every day. I guess we all do. One day, I'll keep my promise to him and make it back to the digital world." A small smile came to his face to show her he was okay.

"Want to have a card game while we wait?" Rika asked him, returning the smile.

"Whoa…" Takato said mouth wide.

"What?"

Takato sweat-dropped, considering his next words carefully. "I've never seen you smile like that before… It makes you look cute." He said while a blush crossed his face. _'Oh god…Did I just say that… Oh god she's going to kill me.'  
_  
_'Did he just say that I look cute?' _Conflicting looks crossed her face. Looks of anger and embarrassment accompanied by a deep crimson blush. _'He thinks I'm cute… I have to keep up appearances though…'_

"Gogglehead… Don't. Ever. Say. That. Again…" She tried to say as threateningly as possible.

"S…Say what?" Takato stammered, playing along.

"Good. Now let's play so I can kick your butt." She said while dragging him into the hideout and sitting up against the wall.

A few minutes later Rika had beaten Takato and everyone had turned up in time to see her decimate him.

"I don't know why you bother chumley." Kazu said with a chuckle.

"Neither do I Kazu."

"The only person that can beat Rika is…" Kazu started.

"DON'T! Don't mention Mr Perfect." Rika yelled at Kazu.

"Why not? After all, I _am _perfect." Came a voice from outside.

"Oh god." Rika groaned while Kazu and Kenta ran off to praise their idol.

"What? You think we wouldn't invite the Digimon King?" Kazu said to Rika.

"It's times like this that I'm glad I renounced my Digimon Queen status." Rika complained, a small chuckle coming from Henry, Suzie and Jeri.

At the last Digimon Card Tournament, Rika had announced that she no longer wanted to be the Digimon Queen and that some other girl could have her title when she won. It surprised everyone that she wouldn't want to be the Queen anymore but she was sick of overhearing people saying that the Digimon King and Queen are cute together and other things along those lines. Besides, she had someone else in mind even if she kept pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind.

Takato noticed that Kenta had walked away from his fan-boy praising of Ryo Akiyama - The Legendary Tamer - to sit on the steps near the hideout and walked over to ask him what he was thinking.

"What's up Kenta?" He asked the concern in his voice showing.

"I really miss MarineAngemon… We were the last ones to become partners and we weren't as close as you Rika and Henry were to Guilmon, Renamon and Terriermon. Sometimes I just hope that a fog will appear and they will bio-emerge." He said while tears threatened to cascade down his cheeks.

"Hey chumley we all think that every day," Kazu started to say after overhearing what was said. "we all miss our partners. I hope that we get to see them too." Kazu put a hand on Kenta's right shoulder

"Let's have a show of hands." Takato said in an attempt to cheer his green haired friend up. "Who else misses their Digimon?" Takato asked while looking back at the group to see who raised their hands. Of course everyone did.

"We all hope that one day we can see them again." Takato said while clutching his golden rimmed D-Arc that he still carriers along with his cards out of habit.

Suddenly his D-Arc started to glow and a golden light shot from it and headed towards the hideout.

A course of 'woahs' echoed from everyone. As they all looked at Takato's D-Arc then, as if some other force was controlling them, they each pulled out their D-Arcs and held them out towards the hideout and each one in turn, shot out a beam of colored light that flew towards the hideout.

The lights died down and everyone lowered their Digivices.

"What's that sound?" Suzie asked to no-one in particular.

A crackling, static sound was coming from the hideout. Takato approached the sound cautiously in case something went wrong.

"Gogglehead wait!" Rika called.

"It might be dangerous." Reasoned Henry.

"I can see a light coming from the hole Guilmon dug years ago!" Takato yelled from inside. "But that must mean…GUYS! IT'S BACK!"

End Chapter 2


	3. Discovery and permission

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 3: Discovery and permission…  
**Shinjuku Park.  
**

"GUYS! IT'S BACK!" Takato yelled excitedly from within the utilitarian shed that was once where Takato would hide his red saurian partner while he was at school.

He walked out to see everyone standing there, jaws on the floor with looks of disbelief.

"This…This better not be a joke gogglehead. If it is, it's sick…" Rika glared at him and Takato shuddered.

"It's no joke Rika. Come and see." He lightly grabbed her wrist and led her to the hideout while she blushed a light red at the contact. Sure enough, when they walked in, at the back of the shed in the hole that Guilmon dug was a small yellow-white light, with small black squares and rectangles coming out of it and fading away.

"We have to go in and get them!" Rika said.

She moved towards the portal but was stopped when Takato grabbed her hand. "Rika, we can't go in just yet. Imagine the fuss our parents would cause if we went missing."

"Besides, we don't even have a plan or supplies." Added Henry as he walked in.

"Maybe we could get Hypnos to help us out?" Kazu suggested.

Hypnos is a secret government organisation – that's not so secret anymore thanks to the D-Reaper – that detects bio-emerging Digimon and tries to stop them from damaging the city. Not a single Digimon has bio-emerged since the D-Reaper was defeated though. They would fail continually and the head of Hypnos, Mitsuo Yamaki, would get frustrated by the fact that the Tamers were able to defeat the Digimon and he couldn't do a thing to stop them. After Calumon was kidnapped by the Devas the Tamers set out to the Digital World to rescue him. Yamaki changed his objectives at that time and decided to help the children get home by recruiting the Monster Makers – the team that created the Digimon – to design an 'Ark' to bring the children home.

"That's actually a good idea Kazu." Takato said, shocked that Kazu came up with a good idea.

"Maybe they might be able to make us another Ark to bring us back." Suzie added.

"Fine, but I want to leave as soon as possible." Rika said slightly vexed because no-one sided with her even if she knew she was wrong to just rush forward without thinking.

"Okay everyone, go home and ask your parents. If they say no, those of us that do go, promise not to come back without your partners. Be here at 8:00 am sharp." Takato addressed the group taking up his role as leader once again.

Everyone agreed with him and went home straight away – except Rika - as to not delay in asking their parents. Arguments were due to be had and it was going to be a long night for a few Tamers.

Once everyone but Rika and Takato had left she approached the goggle wearing Tamer. "Goggles?"

"Yeah, Rika?" He turned to look at her and noticed her glowing violet eyes and her flaming red hair tied up in its usual way and realized how amazing she looked in the dimming afternoon light.

_'She looks…perfect.'_ He thought to himself not daring to say it to her because he knew she would kill him without hesitation.

"I was wondering if you could come with me to ask my mum. I know that she'll say no unless there's someone there to…uh…" She hesitated before saying the next part. "_protect_me. Now don't get any ideas. I don't actually need or want anyone to…" She was cut off by Takato placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I know what you're getting at Rika. It's okay, I'll come with you." Takato knew that she wanted his help so she was sure she was able to go.

"Gogglehead?"

"Yeah Rika?"

"You can get your hand off me now."

Both Rika and Takato blushed; the latter's being a deeper shade of red than the former.

"Right…Uh… Let's go then." He stammered while trying to regain his composure.

**Shioda Household.**

"Mum, I'm going to tell you a few things and I want you to just say either yes or no at the end and the same goes for you too Mrs Kitagawa."

Both Kazu and Kenta's mothers were good friends and were currently at Kazu's house having tea together so Kazu and Kenta had both gone to the formers house to ask their mothers.

"First, we found the portal to the digital world in the park today. Second, we won't go without your permission and third, if we are allowed to go we will be getting help from Hypnos to design another Ark to bring us back. So do Kenta and I have permission to go?"

Both boys looked at their mothers expectantly. "Kazu, I know how much your Digimon mean to you and Kenta but it's just too dangerous. I couldn't bear to find out that something bad had happened to either of you."

"Same thing for you too Kenta. We just want you boys to be safe is all." Replied Kazu and Kenta's mothers respectively.

Kenta looked to Kazu, who nodded, then back to their mothers. "We understand mum." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, besides, chumley has never let us down before!" Kazu replied with a huge smile coming across his face. _'I know they can do it. They'll bring back Guardromon and MarineAngemon and we'll all have some catching up to do.'_

**Wong Household.**

Henry and Suzie arrived home a few minutes after leaving the park, not stopping or getting distracted by anything.

"Dad! Suzie and I need to talk to you urgently!" Henry called out to his father, Janyu Wong, who also happens to be one of the monster makers.

"I'm in my office, kids!" He called out to them. _'I wonder what is so urgent.' _he thought to himself as they entered his office.

"Dad, I'm just going to get straight to the point here. The portal has opened up again and the others and I want to go back and get our Digimon. We need Hypnos and the other monster makers to help us get back again though." Henry and Suzie waited for their fathers reply.

"Suzie…I want you to stay here. Your mother would be devastated if anything were to happen to either of you. I know you played a big part in the whole D-Reaper situation but this time you don't have your Digimon with you. If anything, I'd only like Henry, Takato, Rika and Ryo to go. A smaller group would be easier to move around." Henry looked at his father in shock.

"And I thought I was quick to the point dad." Henry said.

"It was a mistake planting the juggernaut program in Terriermon all those years ago, but it was the only thing we could think of." A frown crossed Janyu's face as he continued to speak.

"If we had spent any more time working on a solution then the world could have possibly been lost. Hypnos has actually been working on trying to get back to the digital world so we could track your Digimon and bring them here to surprise you all but we were never even close in opening a portal." His father replied.

Janyu looked at his son who was telling Suzie that it would be okay and that as much as they'd love her help, it was too dangerous for her to go without a Digimon.

"Good luck Henry. Promise to bring back Lopmon and Terriermon safe and sound, okay?" Suzie said to her older brother.

"I promise Suzie. Dad, we need to get to Hypnos immediately and ask for Yamaki's help. We plan to leave tomorrow morning."

"I'll pack some food for you while you and daddy are at Hypnos, Henry!" Suzie said while running off into the kitchen.

"Okay then let's go, son." Henry nodded.

End Chapter 3


	4. Government and Reactions

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 4: Government and reactions…  
**East Shinjuku.**

As Takato and Rika made their way to Rika's house through the park, Takato looked around at the trees swaying slightly in the wind, the small green fence that lined the edges of the neatly maintained path leading towards a fountain that is a centrepiece that branches off into other parts of the park.

The Tamers had become familiar to a few parts of the park. Mostly being the playground that Takato, Kazu and Kenta would meet in the morning to play the Digimon card game subsequently making them late, and the utility shed that later became Guilmon's hideout and a meeting point for the Tamers.

He thought about all of these things to take his mind off of one thing…or rather, one person; Rika Nonaka.

Ever since the final battle against the D-Reaper, Takato had lost his crush over Jeri and developed one for the redhead with the fiery personality. Sometimes it felt like he felt more for Rika than just a crush, like he actually loved her.

_'But what do I know about love? I'm only 16. Is it normal for me to know what love actually feels like? Am I supposed to figure it out as I go along?' _Millions of thoughts ran through the goggle wearing tamers' head. He stared off in the direction they were heading paying only the slightest attention to his surroundings so his clumsiness didn't make him walk into anything.

"DAMN IT GOGGLEHEAD! LISTEN!" Rika had to yell to gain his attention.

"Wahhh! Oh…sorry Rika. I sort of zoned out…" Takato sweatdropped while scratching the back of his head (something he did when he was embarrassed).

"No really? I didn't notice." Rika stated bluntly, not bothering to hide her sarcasm. "Anyway, you know that I'm going to need your help with this. My grandma should understand but mum…" She trailed off.

"It's okay, I know." He reassuringly said.

**Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building – Floor 29 – Hypnos**

"So what brings the Monster Maker and his son back here?" Said a tall blonde man, eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses that the Tamers know all too well as Mitsuo Yamaki.

"He knows about Project: Recovery, Yamaki. In fact, Henry has some information that could help us track down the Digimon." Janyu stated while Henry nodded.

"Today while at the park, we were all reminiscing about our Digimon and how much we hoped we could see them again. Then Takato's D-Arc glowed and light shot towards where the portal used to be. Then it happened to everyone else's as well." Yamaki stood still, intently listening to what the boy had to say. "We heard a crackling noise coming from the hideout and Takato went to have a look and sure enough, the portal was down at the bottom of the hole that Guilmon dug three years ago when we searched for it."

"That's…I don't know what to say. I'm going to fire blind here and say that you have all gone home to ask your parents and then come here to ask for our help in making another Ark to bring you back?" Yamaki said to the boy although he was not sure if Yamaki was looking at him through the glasses.

"That saves a lot of explaining on my part." Henry said smiling.

"Of course we'll help. Although, you already knew we would after hearing about Project: Recovery. How many people does the Ark need to hold?" Yamaki asked.

"Kazu rung me and said that he and Kenta can't go and that he believes we won't fail him. Suzie isn't coming either and neither is Ai and Mako. They're simply way too young. Rika and Takato will come even if they're told no and I haven't heard from Ryo. Jeri…" Henry didn't need to continue because everyone already knew about the tragic loss of Jeri's partner, Leomon.

"It's okay. We've figured out a solution of bringing Leomon back. It requires Impmon though. We extract Leomon's data from him and reconfigure it. However we may not be able to get all of his data so he may come back as his rookie form instead. I'm sure that Jeri won't mind though." Yamaki said while the smile on Henry's face said that he wouldn't fail Yamaki or Jeri.

"We'll bring him back. We'll bring them all back." Henry said with a reassuring smile.

**Nonaka Household.**

"Hey Mum! Hey Grandma! I brought Takato with me! We need to talk to you and Takato's parents so is it okay if we call them over?!" Rika called out as she led Takato into the kitchen.

"Yes dear, that should be fine." Said Rika's grandma, Seiko, as she walked into the kitchen to sit next to Rika.

"I guess that means I'll call my parents then." Takato said after Rika threw him the portable phone.

"I figured it would be easier to get them all here and tell them at the same time." Rika stated as he dialled the number to his own home.

**15 minutes later**

Takato's parents arrived and Rika's mother, Rumiko, led them into the kitchen where they were seated next to Takato who was next to Rika who was next to her mother and grandma.

"So…uh…well…" Takato's uneasiness wasn't subtle in the slightest. Rika figured she would take over for the bumbling gogglehead.

"Long story short; we found a portal back to the Digital world and we wanted to know if we can go and get our Digimon back." Rika said rather then asked.

"No. Takato, I won't let you. Last time was dangerous enough with the Digimon by your side. This time you're going on your own without them." Said Takato's mother, Mie.

"Rika, I'm sorry but I agree completely with Mrs Matsuki." Said Rika's mother.

"We weren't really asking, rather, telling you." Takato piped up nervously.

"Henry called not long after I called you mum and said that Hypnos can help us track the Digimon as well as supply us with a communicator that will work the whole time we're there and they're already re-designing the Ark to come and pick us up." Takato said. The confidence building up as he spoke.

Mie looked like she was about to explode in a volatile mixture of anger and sadness. Rumiko looked like she was going to cry but a reassuring embrace from her mother calmed her down. Takato's father, Takehiro, put a hand on his wife's shoulder and looked at Seiko, who nodded.

"Go for it son. I believe that you and your friends can do it." Said Takehiro who received a death glare from his wife. It was a glare that would be expected from the Rika of three years ago. However, he didn't avert his gaze and she knew he was right.

"Okay. Gogglehead's father is right. We should believe in you kids more. I mean, you have saved the world before." Said Rumiko.

Rika groaned at how her mother had called Takato gogglehead. "Mum, only _I _can call him that."

Rumiko winked at her daughter and a sly smile crept up onto her face. "Oh, okay sweetie." This prompted a massive blush on Rika's part but all she could do was groan and walk to the phone to call Henry.

"Well, it's settled. We'll meet at the hideout at eight in the morning to get the communicator from Yamaki and say goodbyes." Takato said finalizing their plans.

As he was walking out with his parents to go home, Rumiko asked to speak to him quietly so Rika wouldn't hear. "I know you're a good kid Takato, and I'm not blind, I see the way you look at my daughter. It'll take a while to get through to her so don't lose hope." Takato's face went as red as Gallantmon: Crimson Mode. "Please, please, please, promise me that you will watch out for Rika."

"I promise Miss Nonaka." Takato replied, still blushing at how obvious it must have been that he liked Rika. "I should be off now. Have to get home and prepare." Takato said politely, promptly bowing and walking to his parents' car.

End Chapter 4


	5. Portals and dog-bunnies

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 5: Portals and dog-bunnies…**  
Matsuki Household.**

The drive home was short and Takato was thinking about the up-coming adventure to the Digital world to find their partners. He made a promise to his friends that he would bring back their Digimon if they couldn't come with them.

The car pulled up at the side entrance to the bakery and Takato crawled out of the car and trudged up the stairs to his room. He felt so tired and was glad to know that it would mean he would fall asleep quicker. He got changed into his pyjamas and laid down in his bed, clutching his D-Arc the same way he had when the sketches he did of Guilmon were pulled through it and created his future partners Digi-Egg.

As he lay there, he remembered the promise he made to Guilmon that they would see each other again. He remembered his most recent promise as well. How he promised Rumiko that he would look out for Rika while they were in the Digital world.

_'Suddenly I don't feel so tired anymore. Great…Let's just hope I don't wake up late. That'll be more then embarrassing. Not to mention how mad Rika would be…'_ He shuddered at the thought of her eyes staring into his. Like drills, boring into his skull. How her violet eyes would stand out against her soft, pale skin and flaming red hair.

_'Hahahah. I'm glad Rika can't hear my thoughts otherwise, I'd have been dead long ago…'_ Takato drifted off into sleep, his vice-like grip preventing his D-Arc from falling to the ground.

**Nonaka Household.**

Her room was a traditional Japanese inspired room. As was her whole house. A small futon lay on the floor near a small, shin height table and her desk (cluttered with books and papers) off in the corner.****

Rika set her usual attire out for tomorrow at the foot of her futon. Her white shirt with the blue sleeves and whole blue heart in the middle. Blue jeans with a brown belt around the waist and a smaller one for the left leg. Looking at her shirt, she remembered when she, Henry and Takato were walking through the tunnel under Shinjuku park to face off against the D-Reaper.

Takato had told her that he liked her shirt and they had both blushed in the awkward moment. Terriermon decided to make a sing-song joke about them sitting in a tree. It was then that she first thought Takato was cute. All his antics made him cute to her (though she would never admit it). His constant clumsiness, determination to become her friend and desires to protect his friends and family no matter the cost. It's what attracted her to him.

Around the same time Takato had done so, (obviously not knowing that) she had lain down on her futon and fell asleep. Waiting for the next morning when they would leave their mundane lives to adventure back to the Digital world and become Tamers once again.

**Shinjuku Park.**

"I can't believe him! He's the one that said to be here by 8:00am _sharp_! Yet, he's the one who's late!" Rika exclaimed, obviously vexed by the fact Takato was late.

"Relax Rika; I'm only a minute late. I had to pack as much bread as I could into the spare parts of my pack. You know Guilmon will want some Guilmon Bread." Takato said while walking up to the group with a slice of the aforementioned bread in his hands.

Before the D-Reaper, Takehiro had worked on baking bread in the shape of Guilmon's head for a while. He eventually got Takato to draw him a picture of Guilmon's head so he could study it and craft what was basically a big cookie cutter that formed the bread into the right shape. He had finally perfected it.

"Well now the three of you are here;" Yamaki started but was cut off when Ryo interrupted.

"Make that four, Yamaki. What's the matter Rika? I can almost hear your brow furrowing." Ryo teased.

"This isn't the time Ryo." Rika spat.

"As I was saying…" Yamaki started again. "Now the four of you are here; I'm going to give each of you a communicator. We made eight of them because we were unsure of how many of you were actually coming. So you each get one." He handed one to each of the Tamers who either nodded or muttered thanks.

"These communicators are better than the last ones. These ones won't require a storm to work. However you should only contact us when you get there, in an emergency and when you need to come back."

Takato, Rika and Henry turned to face their parents who had approached them. They embraced their mothers who were all crying; Takato's mother especially. They said their farewells and received their 'be safes'.

Henry was the first to walk into the portal followed closely by Ryo. Takato turned to Rika.

"Are you ready?" He asked her, a huge smile across his face.

"Yeah, I am." Came the reply.

They both walked towards the portal and slid down the tunnel until the portal flashed, consuming their bodies in a bright yellow light.

**The Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

Takato felt himself move from sliding to falling. He wondered if he would appear in the same spot as last time they went to the Digital world. Takato assumed so because the portal was in the exact same spot, therefore they should come out at the same spot. He opened his eyes and saw his three friends falling close to him.

_'They may be close to me for now but they might drift a little further away. What if one of us is unconscious and is dragged away before the others can find them? I need a plan…Got it!' _Takato thought of a plan that would keep them all next to each other after they had landed. He'd seen skydivers do it plenty of times and the technique would work for them so why not him?

He reached out and grabbed Ryo's hand. "Ryo! Grab Henry's hand, then Henry grabs Rika!" He shouted over the whistling in his ears. Ryo reached out and managed to grab Henry's hand. The half-Chinese Tamer already had a hold of Rika's right hand. Takato then grabbed a hold of her left, making her blush slightly.

"Gogglehead! Explain why we all grabbed hands!" Rika shouted.

"Last time we all landed away from each other. We didn't all wake up at the same time. This way, whoever wakes up first can watch over the others." Takato said at a rather normal tone, not needing to shout because of how close they all were to each other.

Mere seconds after he finished explaining, they hit the ground with a massive 'THUD', sending all of them into an unconscious state while their bodies recovered from the impact.

"Gee, that's going to hurt when they wake up!" Said a familiar voice from amidst the dust.

"Terriermon…" Complained another familiar voice.

"What? Remember last time? They could barely walk! And besides Lopmon, look at Rika holding Takato's hand!" Terriermon explained.

"Rika is going to beat you if you mention it." Lopmon said to her opposite coloured counterpart.

"Toots is right. So I suggest ya shut ya trap before you wake 'em up." Said yet another familiar voice.

"Oh, you did not just call me toots, Impmon!" Lopmon glared at the little purple imp before grabbing him by the neckerchief and looking him dead in the eyes.

"Wha…what are ya t…talking about, Lopmon. I don't recall saying that." Impmon stuttered.

"Hahahah, you should really know how to be polite around Lopmon, Impmon." Terriermon stated while stifling his giggles to no avail.

End Chapter 5

****


	6. The awakening

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 6: The awakening…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

As he woke up, Ryo Akiyama couldn't see much. His vision was still blurred from the sudden light that flashed in his eyes upon opening them.

"Ughh… I have to watch the others until they wake up." He said while attempting to sit up. He found it difficult to move his legs and decided he would just sit until he felt his legs were ready to obey.

"Hey look! Mr Perfect came to!" Someone yelled from behind him.

_'Is that…Rika?' _He thought to himself while attempting to turn around, to no avail.

"Who is it? I can't really turn around just yet, my legs hurt too much. It's rather embarrassing…" He said while scratching the back of his head.

"Momentai, Ryo. You'll be able to walk soon enough. But for now, your head is my seat." Stated the voice again, but this time Ryo had an idea of who it really was. He was astounded to see the little cream and teal dog-bunny land on his head.

"Terriermon!? Where are the others? Are they with you? Take me to them!" Ryo started to blabber out more questions until Terriermon put an ear over Ryo's mouth.

"I don't know. Only Lopmon and Impmon are with me. I will when the others wake up." Came the answers to each question respectively.

A blur of orange and black dived over Ryo and yanked the diminutive Digimon off his head.

"Henry? You're…crushing me…" Terriermon chocked out.

"Oh, sorry buddy." Henry said after releasing his hold on Terriermon, only for them to embrace each other once again.

"I've missed you so much Terriermon. Three years is way too long." Tears of joy threatened to run down Henry's face.

"It's good to see you too Henry." Came the muffled reply from the blue haired Tamer's arms.

"This is such a cute little reunion but where are the others?" Asked a groggy new voice that belonged to none other than our favourite redhead.

"Nice for you to join us, Tamer of violence." Terriermon said in his best Asian accent that rather offended Henry.

"Terriermon…" Said his half-Chinese friend and partner.

"I actually missed you saying that Henry. Lopmon saying that just doesn't cut it." Terriermon said with a little giggle. "Back to Rika's question though. I only know where Lopmon and Impmon are. We decided to stay here in the event you did come back."

"I see…" Rika said a little down that Renamon had walked off and not waited.

_'Why would she do that? Unless she went to see if she could find her own way back.'_ She thought.

"Don't look so glum, toots. We'll find them soon enough." Said Impmon as he walked towards the others with Lopmon in tow.

"It's great to see you guys again." Ryo said, finally standing up.

"Can we wake up gogglehead so we can search for everyone else?" Rika said impatiently.

"Sure, I'll send a message to Yamaki while Terriermon wakes up Takato." Henry said, pulling out the communicator and beginning to type his message.

"I can only think of one way to wake him up though…" Terriermon said after he had made his way to the sleeping Tamer. Putting on his best Guilmon voice he said: "Takatomon, do you have any bread?"

Takato sat up and was shocked to see Terriermon. He realized that Terriermon had done that to get him up but he wasn't mad, rather, happy to see Terriermon.

"Terriermon, Lopmon, Impmon! It's great to see you guys. Where are Guilmon and the others?" He questioned.

"That's what we're about to explain as soon as Henry's done sending the message." He told the goggled Tamer.

"Done. Now you can tell us." Henry told his partner.

**Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building – Floor 29 – Hypnos**

Yamaki and the Tamers parents had all gone back to Hypnos to await the message from the children saying they were okay. They sat in a bland room that had one long table with many chairs surrounding it. Riley and Tally had put out food for the parents to eat in case they became hungry while waiting.

The communicator that Yamaki held on him went off. He pulled it out and read the message.

**"Yamaki, its Henry.  
Takato, Rika, Ryo and I have arrived in the Digital world. Upon landing we were knocked unconscious and found by Terriermon, Lopmon and Impmon. We will find somewhere to rest and continue or search tomorrow."**

Yamaki passed the communicator around so al the parents could read it and see that their children were safe. After assuring them that he'd look after their children, the parents went home one by one. All except for Janyu, who as part of the Monster Makers, stayed to continue working on the Ark.

They had their work cut out for them.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

It grew late in the digital world and whatever light source there was disappeared and it became dark without warning.

"I still haven't gotten used to that…" Said Ryo as he sat down in a cave that Terriermon and his two friends had been using for cover from the evil Digimon that might attack them and try to absorb their data. They were lucky enough to have Impmon with them as he could digivolve to his mega form of Beelzemon without the need for his Tamers to swipe a Digivolution card.

"Anyway, so tell us why you all split up." Takato said to the cream dog-bunny.

"Well for a year we all stayed together." Terriermon began. "After a while Cyberdramon just took off. We didn't worry too much about it because we knew that with his power, Cyberdramon would be fine. A long while passed and some patrolling Guardromon came and saw us with a Guardromon and decided to recruit him. He accepted and left with Calumon insisting that he wanted to go and help him be a 'big protective robot'." Terriermon laughed at how naïve Calumon was at times.

"What about Guilmon?" Takato asked him.

A solemn look passed across Terriermon's face. "Guilmon thought that Takato might be searching somewhere else for him so he went off to see if he could find you. Renamon knew he'd get into trouble on his own so she went to look after him with MarineAngemon in tow."

"Everyone seemed to have split up into very tactical groups." Takato noted.

"What do you mean?" Rika asked him.

"Well think about it: Terriermon, Lopmon and Impmon. Terriermon and Lopmon are both quick witted and Impmon can digivolve to the mega level.  
Guardromon and Calumon: Guardromon is designed to be a guard Digimon so it'd be easy to protect Calumon." He explained to his fellow Tamers.

He heard Terriermon snicker at that statement. Hearing him mumble something about "If it were that easy then how did the Devas manage to take him from us?" He decided to ignore it and continue.

"Cyberdramon is a fighting machine. He rarely backs down but does know his limits. That leaves Guilmon, Renamon and MarineAngemon. Guilmon is amazing at tracking things down with his nose. Renamon is strong, even at the rookie level and in the case they do get injured, MarineAngemon can heal them." Takato finished, waiting for someone to break the silence.

Terriermon decided he would break it. He glanced over at Takato and a devilish smile crossed his little cream face.

"Hey Takato, can I speak with you?" He asked Takato wit that seedy smile still on his face.

"Sure Terriermon." He said as he got up and walked towards the entrance of the cave.

They got to the entrance and Terriermon jumped onto Takato's head.

"So… Takato and Rika sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Terriermon sang in a sing-song voice.

Takato was startled by the topic the conversation was about and jumped back, causing Terriermon to fall off his head. He scratched the back of his head and he felt the heat rising in his face.

"W…What makes you s…say that?" He stammered.

"When you all landed, I walked over and noticed that you and Rika were holding hands, and I've also seen how you were looking at her on the way over here." Terriermon responded.

"Can our little gogglehead melt the cold heart of the Ice-Queen? Only time will tell!" Terriermon said as if he were the announcer at a wrestling match.

"Terriermon, be quiet! She'll hear you…" Takato said as he tried to hush the little Digimon.

Terriermon didn't expect Takato to admit that he liked Rika.

_'I can use this to my advantage…' _Terriermon thought.

"I won't tell if you do two things for me Takato." Terriermon said.

"Great. I'm being blackmailed by a dog-bunny=thing." Takato sighed.

"First, when we get back, I'll be telling Henry to hold a sleepover over at his house to celebrate our return. You will be subjected to the 'Princess Pretty Pants' treatment." Terriermon shuddered at the memory. As much as he missed Suzie, he didn't missed being dressed up in a pink tutu.

Takato agreed reluctantly. As much as he didn't want to be subjected to becoming 'Princess Pretty Pants' he couldn't risk having Terriermon tell Rika he liked her instead of admitting it himself.

"Second?" He asked albeit a little hesitant.

"You have to ask her out when we get back." Terriermon said.

End Chapter 6


	7. Promise to the dog-bunny

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 7: Promise to the dog-bunny…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

"You want me t…to what?" Takato said as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Sure he liked Rika but he had to know if she liked him as well. He couldn't just go and say 'oh hey Rika, want to go out?' It wasn't that simple… _'Or was it?'_

Thousands of thoughts ran through the boys mind. From debating whether he had heard the Digimon right to if Terriermon was simply joking and that at any moment, he would burst out laughing and comment on how dumbfounded Takato looked. He shot a quick glance at the little Digimon and noticed that he seemed dead serious.

"I…I'm not s…sure I heard you right." Takato stammered.

"When we get back, you have to ask her out." Terriermon repeated himself.

Takato thought about the two promises and realized that Rika was going to find out that Takato had a crush on her eventually. He wondered why Terriermon had made him make that promise. Why was he so interested?

"Why do you want me to ask her for Terriermon?" He asked the diminutive dog-bunny.

A smile crossed Terriermon's cream face as he replied. "Because, the clumsy, shy goggle-wearing doofus dating the cold hearted ice queen seems like an amusing prospect to me."

"You're evil. I hope you know that." Takato said with a sigh.

"Hey! I resent that. I'm not evil, merely looking for a laugh." Terriermon replied while puffing out his chest then giggling.

_'I suppose it couldn't hurt to tell her. Terriermon is just giving me motivation even if he doesn't mean to. I guess I'll accept it then, although I'm not looking forward to becoming princess pretty pants.'_ He mentally sighed then looked at Terriermon, who was waiting for a reply.

"I guess I accept then." Takato said in a defeated tone. Terriermon cheered triumphantly and began to walk back inside the cave with the goggle wearing Tamer.

"Oh, and Terriermon?" Takato began. "It's good to see you again. It's been boring without you and your jokes." He finished with a smile.

"At least someone appreciates good humour!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Rika sat leaning against a rock with Lopmon, discussing about things that had happened with Suzie and that she had wanted to come but knew how dangerous it would be for her.

They both fell into a silence and Rika couldn't help how fitting Lopmon and Terriermon were. They were the opposites in colour for one. Where Terriermon was cream, Lopmon was a chocolate brown and where Terriermon was teal, she was pink. She also had three horns on her forehead as opposed to Terriermon's one. Their personalities were completely different as well. Terriermon was quick to say what came to mind, even if it wasn't appropriate. Lopmon would try and analyse the person's feelings before coming up with an answer that was truthful and pleasing.

_'It's uncanny, really…'_

Ryo and Henry were with Impmon talking about what little they had heard from his twin Tamers, Ai and Mako. It always amazed Ryo how two eight year olds managed to have an ex demon lord Digimon as their partner. Impmon's mega level is Beelzemon, a virus type Digimon that is one of the seven demon lords.

Eventually all conversations died down and they all settled around a fire that was set, courtesy of Impmon. The flames seemed to dance in a never ending waltz with the shadows and as they each lay down and tried to become as comfortable as humanly possible on the rocky floor, they had thoughts of how they would go about finding all the other Digimon. The darkness of sleep eventually came over each Tamer and Digimon, slowly, one by one.

The next morning the Tamers set off out of the cave and headed west on Terriermon's suggestion. Ryo had decided to go off on his own because he knew a fair bit about the digital world already and unbeknownst to the other Tamers; he already knew where Cyberdramon would be.

The desert was dry, desolate, mundane, boring and a whole other range of words that flew from Terriermon's mouth.

"Hennnnnryyyy! I'm bored and I'm tired."

"Terriermon, stop complaining. After all you get to sit on my head while we all walk." Henry said to his partner.

"Momentai, Henry! One of us needs to have energy if a fight breaks out." Terriermon said while moving from Henry's head to his arms.

**Somewhere Unknown.******

An all-powerful Digimon looked into two orbs, one of black and one of white. He was slightly taller than the average male with a strong build. Ten giant wings protruded out of his back with all the wings on his left side being black and demon like, all the ones on the right being white and angelic. His blonde hair came down to his shoulders and pushed back behind his collar. Another four wings came out from under his hair. Two white belts crossed each other at his waist and buckled with Golden latches. His boots were bulky and travelled up to his knees and were white with black markings and Golden anklets and knee braces.

He watched the Tamers walking with a few Digimon as they found a portal out of the desert area that led to the forest area. He raised his massive arm above his head and clicked his fingers. It echoed for a few seconds before a MasterTyrannomon appeared behind him and bent on one knee so his master could address him.

"MasterTyrannomon," He spoke. "I'm sending you to the forest biome to deal with the Tamers while they are weakened. I warn you: DO NOT fail me."

The giant grey saurian nodded and turned around and ran off before he angered his master with his unnecessary presence.

The angelic Digimon clicked his fingers again and the grey saurian disappeared to make his way to the Tamers, bringing about their destruction. He did not know much about the Tamers but if his master wanted them dead, then he would gladly do the deed.

_'I do not expect him to succeed at all. I just need to see how strong they are and see how handle themselves. Only two of those Digimon should be able to fight. The Terriermon and the traitor.' _The last word of the angels thought was said with malice.

He would have his chance to deal with the little imp soon enough. His attention focused back to the orbs and he heard the little dog-bunny say 'Momentai'.

_'That word… Take it easy. He says it a lot, more often to escape trouble with his Tamer. He amuses me to no end sometimes. His naivety and care-free attitude amazes me. Even in the face of danger he still manages to make a joke out of everything.'_ The Digimon stopped thinking for a few moments before resuming.

_'The red one is very childish. Doesn't understand many emotions but if his friends are in danger he is the first to act. It's suiting that he is the strongest. The hazard has to be avoided as I do not want him to destroy the digital world. Last but not least, the yellow fox. She has an attitude, that's for sure. Her speed and agility is almost un-matched compared to other rookie levels.'_

He started chuckling to himself for a while before breaking out into a full scale, deafening laugh that was almost a roar. "It shall be too easy." He said to himself.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant**

"Hey Terriermon, you're sure Guilmon and Renamon came here with MarineAngemon?" Takato questioned.

"Yeah, that's where I sensed them going until they were out of reach." Replied Terriermon from his usual position atop of Henry's head.

A loud rumbling sound came from the surrounding forest then settled as quick as it started.

"What do ya think that was?" Impmon asked Rika.

Before she could answer the trees started collapsing around them and a big monster that was similar to a Tyrannomon appeared. It was grey were a normal one was red and the green was still the same, appearing on the spines running down his back.

A shrill roar sounded around them as the monster prepared to attack.

**"Master Fire!"** He roared as a red aura accumulated energy in his mouth.

End Chapter 7


	8. Stronger than usual

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 8: Stronger than usual…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

**"Master Fire!"** He roared as a red aura accumulated energy in his mouth.

The Tamers and Digimon had barely any time to get out of the way from the giant bipedal dinosaurs flame based attack. Takato landed on his arm and it bent a way it was never designed to. The adrenalin that burned through his veins helped him to ignore the pain of his now broken arm. Lucky for him, wounds healed quicker in the digital world.

"Henry! You have to digivolve me!" Terriermon exclaimed.

Without a second thought Henry randomly chose a card as it turned blue and he swiped it through his D-Arc. A crackling sound came when the D-Arc scanned the cards data patterns and applying them to Terriermon.

**"DIGIMODIFY!  
MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION, ACTIVATE!"** Henry called.

_**Matrix Digivolution.**_ Came the monotonous reply from Henry's D-Arc.

**"Terriermon matrix digivolve to….."**

A green data sphere encased Terriermon, and then grew two meters taller than it was. His limbs were extended and green armour encased his stomach, feet, arms and head. As he broke out he exclaimed the name of his new form that was more of a rabbit android now.

**"Rapidmon!"**

Rika ran over to Takato and examined his broken arm before helping him get to a safe distance from the fight that Rapidmon was obviously going to run into without thinking.

"Impmon, if things get tough, get in there and help." Rika said to the purple imp.

"Ha, you think I'd miss a fight?" Impmon replied.

Takato pulled out his white D-Arc with the golden ring around the screen and scanned their attacker.

"MasterTyrannomon: Vaccine type of the Ultimate. Its attacks are Master Fire, Master Claw, Hyper Heat Blast and Zen Recovery." Takato read off the screen.

"Does it matter about its attacks? I'll still wipe the floor with his ugly mug." Rapidmon would have smirked at his last comment but that was impossible because not even he could see his own mouth.

"Rapidmon what did I say about being 'tact'?" Henry berated his partner.

"Momentai, Henry." Rapidmon said to his partner before turning to attack MasterTyrannomon. "Hey there tall and gruesome! Wanna taste of my **Rapid Fire!**"

Two missiles sped blindingly towards their target that didn't make an effort to dodge. They impacted against his chest and gut but other than leaving a few marks, they did nothing at all.

"Wha… My attacks did nothing Henry!" Rapidmon said nervously.

"I think 'dis is where I step in!" Impmon said running towards his friend.

As he ran he was encased in a bright light that grew taller as Impmon's form changed.

**"Impmon warp digivolve to…"**

He grew to around the same height as Rapidmon and was covered in leather, biker like clothes with his red neckerchief that he wore as Impmon tied around his left arm. A bird like, purple mask covered his face leaving spots for his complete lower jaw and three eyes.

**"Beelzemon!"**

"Beelzemon, mode change to…"

As Beelzemon started to change forms, two large and two small black, feathered wings shot out of his back and a large gun attached itself to his right arm.

**"Beelzemon: Blast Mode!"  
**

The MasterTyrannomon, tired of wasting time decided to end it all quickly to please his master, waited until his opponents got close before unleashing his most powerful attack.

**"HYPER HEAT BLAST!" **He called as his body shot out super-heated embers at his two foes. Beelzemon shielded his body with his wings; however, the rabbit android was not so lucky. Taking the full brunt of the attack caused Rapidmon to fly backwards and dedigivolve back to Terriermon.

"Terriermon, are you okay?" Henry asked as he picked up his partner and cradled him in his arms.

"Momentai, Henry. I just need some sleep is all. That attack wore me out." He replied.

"Looks like it's just me and you know bub." Beelzemon said to his opponent with just a hint of malice in his eyes.

Beelzemon raised his blaster and started to draw an inverted pentagram in the sky. He flew back a meter and started firing shots into the pattern.

**"Corona Destroyer!"** He roared.

As each shot passed through the pentagram, they became massive blasts of pure energy that screamed towards the unlucky saurian. The blasts impacted with the dinosaur and caused major damage to his chest and arms. He collapsed to the ground from the force of the attack and unsteadily raised himself to him feet.

**"Zen Recovery." **He said as his body glowed and all of the smaller wounds healed themselves.

"That… should have killed you. You're only an ultimate level!" Beelzemon screamed in frustration.

**"Corona Blaster!" **He yelled, still in shock that his previous attack hadn't worked. Unfortunately for Beelzemon, this attack didn't work either.

"You think you're attacks can work against me, _traitor_?" MasterTyrannomon asked him, almost spitting the last word out.

"So, he still remembers me then?" Beelzemon asked with a tone of amusement.

"Oh, indeed he does. However, I have not been sent here to kill you. No, my target is them." He gestured a massive claw to the Tamers.

"I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT MY FRIENDS BUB!" Beelzemon was surrounded by a black aura as he raised his blaster, once again drawing the inverted pentagram.

"That attack did not work last time and it won't work this time either! **Master Fi…**"

"I WILL NOT LET YOU HURT THEM! I OWE MY LIFE TO THEM! THEY FORGAVE ME AFTER I KILLED JERI'S PARTNER LEOMON! EVEN JERI FORGAVE ME AND WAS NOTHING BUT KIND TO ME! I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO HURT THE TAMERS! NOW FEEL THE REAL POWER OF A DEMON LORD!"

Beelzemon could no longer keep his rage contained after realizing that the grey saurian planned to kill his friends. The true power of his Demon Lord status gave him unsurpassed strength as he flew a meter back and fired a massive beam of energy into the pentagram. Passing through the pentagram the blast became even more massive, disintegrating trees in the area.

The attack hit MasterTyrannomon in his jaw and he exploded into bits of data that was absorbed by Terriermon who used the extra data to heal himself.

His anger subsiding, Beelzemon flew back towards the Tamers and as he landed, he dedigivolved back into Impmon and fell on his behind.

"Impmon? Are you okay? What the heck was that?" Takato asked. His arm had been put into a sling using material that was packed into a first aid kit that Henry had brought with him for emergencies.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't you remember? I'm one of the seven Demon Lord Digimon. Except I left them years and years ago to get Tamers and become stronger in my quest for power." He said.

"Well that explains why he called you traitor then." Rika noted with a nod of her head.

"Look guys, I'm tired and I'll try and explain everything tomorrow. For now I just need some rest to recover all the energy I used up." Impmon said trying to stifle a yawn.

"He's got a point, I'm pooped." Terriermon said.

"Well lets set up camp then." Takato said as his cheery attitude returned to him.

"You mean while _we_ set up camp." Rika stated, glaring at Takato. It was a different glare this time, not her usual 'I'm going to destroy you if you don't shut up' glare. She looked as if she was actually concerned for her goggle headed friend.

"What do you mean?" He questioned.

"You can't possibly help with a broken arm gogglehead." Rika started. "Go sit over there on the remains of that tree that didn't get completely destroyed and wait."

"But…I…Okay." Takato sighed in a defeated tone.

**Somewhere Unknown.**

_'I knew he couldn't do it. I expected more of a challenge from Rapidmon. I didn't count on Beelzemon needing to interfere though. He will pay for betraying us, not just yet, but later.'_ The angelic Digimon sighed.

He didn't count on an old friend, now enemy, gaining access to his full power ever again. This was going to make things a lot more difficult for him in the future. He'd have to find some way of eliminating him and destroying his data.

_'Beelzemon will get what is coming to him. I won't intervene for a while; I want to see how they get back with their partners. Maybe I can find a weakness in the process.' _

The angelic Digimon closed his fist and the orbs of black and white disappeared. He turned and bent his knees and using the force to jump up and gain his full flight speed quickly. He had to report back to his colleagues and tell them of his findings. End Chapter 8**  
**


	9. Reminiscence

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 9: Reminiscence…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant.**

The majority of Tamers and Digimon had awoken to a peaceful morning with a blue sky and vibrant greenery, with the exception of the charred area a few meters away that was the result from Beelzemon: Blast Mode fighting a MasterTyrannomon the day before.

They packed up their sleeping bags and waited around for a few minutes for their unofficial leader and Lopmon to awaken, however that would be a long while unless someone intervened.

"How do you suppose we wake them?" Henry asked no-one in particular, addressing the question to anyone who was listening.

"I think I have an idea," Impmon mumbled groggily as he walked over to Takato's backpack and pulled out a piece of bread. He made his way to Lopmon and waved the piece of bread in front of the dog-bunnies nose.

"He should be careful Lopmon doesn't bite his hand off." Terriermon quipped.

"Terriermon…" Henry groaned.

"Momentai!" Terriermon said with a giggle from atop his Tamers head.

Impmon continued to wave the piece of bread in front of Lopmon's nose until she raised her head slightly to sniff it. Impmon then hit her on the head and ran over and put the bread down in Takato's hand. Lopmon looked up with anger in her eyes, wondering who had hit her.

Suddenly, she noticed the bread in Takato's hand. She pounced at the boy started hitting him with her ears as quickly as she could, waking Takato to the feeling of fur slamming his face.

"Whaa! Lopmon, get off me!" Takato cried from under the weight of Suzie's partner sitting on his face.

"Next time you won't hit me and pretend you're asleep." Lopmon mumbled after climbing off her friend.

"Can you two hurry up and get ready?" Rika said impatiently; hand on her hip and tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yes, we really should go looking for the other remaining Digimon." Henry added.

After Takato had gotten ready he walked over to join his friends who had sat in a semi-circle around Impmon; all with questioning gazes towards the purple imp.

"So are we ready to go yet?" Takato asked while trying, and failing, to stifle a yawn.

"Not yet," Impmon started. "I promised an explanation last night and figured I'd get to it before hot head over there beat it out of me." He gestured towards Rika.

"Watch you words, little goblin." Rika said, clenching a fist and holding it towards him.

"HEY! I'm an imp!" Impmon yelled, embarrassed at being called a goblin.

"Does it even matter? Get on with it." Terriermon said from next to Lopmon who hit him over the back of the head with an ear.

"Ow, that hurt…" Terriermon mumbled while rubbing his head.

"Anyway, as to why that MasterTyrannomon called me a traitor last night; as you know, my mega form, Beelzemon, is one of the seven Demon Lords. I used to always be Beelzemon; Digimon would fear my power and would cower if my name was even mentioned. I used to work with the other Demon Lords, instilling fear, killing, pillaging, and absorbing data to become stronger. Then I heard of the Tamers; human children that could make a Digimon even stronger than they could ever become on their own. The others started making plots to eliminate the Tamers." Impmon stated. He seemed neither happy nor sad about telling the others of his hidden past.

"They saw the Tamers as a threat; I saw them as what I needed to become even stronger. I wanted to travel to the human world to find a Tamer but I was told that if I left then they would class me as a traitor, strip me from my mega level and cast me to the human world to see if I could even survive a day." Impmon seemed to be getting really frustrated.

_'He looks really ticked off. He's clenching his fist so tight it might explode into data.'_ Terriermon thought. He didn't voice his little joke because he wanted to listen to the rest of the story. Maybe he would tell Henry later.

"So my greed for power caused me to do just that. They attacked me until I was nearly deleted and used their power to send me to the human world. After I recovered I wandered around for a few weeks, terrorizing couples in the park before I met Ai and Mako. You basically know the rest from there. I left Ai and Mako, I sided with the Devas, I killed Leomon and yet you all still forgave me." Impmon sat down and thought about all that had happened in his life.

"Well that was brief." Terriermon said, breaking the silence that followed Impmon's story.

"Terriermon." Henry and Lopmon groaned in unison.

"Hahahah. Momentai!" He replied.

Takato seemed to think about what Impmon had said the most. _'He never told us the names of the other Demon Lords. Perhaps I should ask him…'_

"Impmon?" Takato said to get his attention.

Impmon seemed to snap out of his daydream and looked to the goggle wearing Tamer.

"Yeah pineapple head?"

"Well…I was wondering who the other Demon Lords were." He said.

"I'm sorry Takato but I actually can't remember. I don't know why though. I do remember how there were only six mega levels including myself. The strongest of us is only an ultimate level." He said nervously.

"Wow…" Takato said as he rubbed his arm that was healing abnormally quicker than it would in the human world.

"Well as much as I'd love to stay and chat, we should go looking." Rika said.

"Yeah, we can't waste any more time." Henry echoed.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Desert Level.**

A boy climbed wearily out of the crater he'd made sometime during the night after falling from the sky and hitting the ground. Hard. His body ached all over and he had a splitting headache to boot.

"Oh god it hurts. You could have told me it would hurt, dude." The boy said.

"Like I was supposed to know." A deeper voice came from the crater. "Now can ya help me?" It asked.

"Oh yeah. Sure." The boy walked over and hauled a small black dinosaur Digimon that looked like a darker version of an Agumon out of the crater.

"Thanks," He mumbled, stretching his claws and neck.

The boy did the same and was a lot less tense when he heard a multitude of clicks come from the joints in his body. He looked down at his clothes and dusted the sand off of them, then running a hand through his short, spiked brown hair; making the sand fall out of it.

"We should get looking for those Tamers as soon as possible, BlackAgumon." He said, looking down to his partner.

"Yeah, let's just hope the damned rabbit doesn't get them in trouble." He said grimly.

"Yeah, he does tend to run his mouth." The boy chuckled. He pulled out a D-Arc that looked exactly like the other Tamers' ones but his was completely black with the exception of white buttons and a grey ring around the screen. He pressed the left button and scrolled the screen across until a radar appeared with four red arrows. Three were pointing in the same direction but one was off to the right.

"Hmmm… The one to the right must be Ryo. He must already know where Cyberdramon is, we should find the other three first. Ryo can handle himself; he is after all, the Legendary Tamer." The boy said to his partner.

"Then let us stop wasting time and go." The black saurian replied.

"Always in a rush, aren't ya?" His Tamer said with a bemused smile on his face.

"Yes Yamaru, in fact I am. Now c'mon." He said to the boy.

The boy chuckled at his partners' frustration before giving in the argument and following the three, close-knit red arrows.

**Somewhere Unknown.**

"Hmmm… So Impmon has gained access to Digivolution again. I had hoped the Tamers had killed him and loaded his data." A long, crimson, serpentine like Digimon with two tails said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Yes so did I," The angelic Digimon replied. "It seems as though we'll just have to alter out plans to include him then."

"He could pose a big threat to us. We should remove him now." The serpent rebutted.

"No, we won't do anything of the sort. I need you to tell the others and make sure they don't do anything either, I will continue to monitor their actions and inform you of anything that seems of importance." The angel said, dismissing the serpent.

_'He does have a point. Beelzemon will be a __**massive**__ problem if not dealt with soon.' _He thought to himself while summoning his orbs of black and white again.

"Oh… What's this? A new Tamer? I shall have to keep a very close eye on him."

_'Hmmmm… Who could this child be? I have not seen him fight before nor have I ever seen a BlackAgumon in the Southern Quadrant before. They could be powerful, they could be worthless. Time will tell.'_

**Zhuquiaomon's Fortress – Digital World – Southern Quadrant**

"Azulongmon! I know you're here! I need your help!" Ryo called out into the sky.

Clouds began to form before turning grey and letting its inhabitant loose. A massive blue serpent with chains and wings encompassing its body seemed to entangle itself within the clouds. His voice boomed as he spoke.

"Ahh, Ryder! It's good to see you again. To what pleasure do Zhuquiaomon and I owe this visit?" He asked.

"I'm here for Cyberdramon and I believe he has gone to the Eastern Quadrant with your help." Ryo said, wanting to get straight to the point and not waste time.

"I knew you would not come here for idle chit-chat with a pair of old guardians. Yes I did send Cyberdramon to the Eastern Quadrant. He would not leave and insisted we did, if I hadn't, Zhuquiaomon would have lost his temper and deleted him." The azure dragon-serpent stated.

"I shall send you without delay Tamer."

"Thank you Azulongmon." Ryo said before a computer screen appeared in front of him. He raised his D-Arc and held it to the screen.

Without another word he uttered; "Digi-port, Open!" and was sucked into the computer. Azulongmon looked to Zhuquiaomon who nodded in response before sending out flames to destroy it.

"Safe travels." Azulongmon uttered before returning to whatever it was a sovereign did.

End Chapter 9.


	10. The black clad warrior

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 10: The black clad warrior…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Forest Level.**

A boy clad in almost fully black attire walked through the forest with his similar coloured saurian partner. They had managed to make it out of the desert level with ease. No Digimon had tried to attack them and load BlackAgumon's data, if a Digimon had attacked, the black dinosaur wouldn't have lost anyway. The two partners were walking in amongst the trees at the current time, trying to avoid sight when they caught up with the Tamers.

Yamaru checked his D-Arc again to double-check they were heading in the right direction. He noticed that Ryo's signal had disappeared.

"Hmmm…"

"What is it?" BlackAgumon asked.

"It seems Ryo's signal has disappeared. Did he go back?" Yamaru pondered a hand moving to his chin as if it helped him to think.

"Relax; he probably just went out of range. Those things can't cover the whole Digital World you know." His partner replied.

"Yeah, you're right." Yamaru gave in with a smile before checking his D-Arc one last time.

"We should be up with them in a few minutes. We should head a little deeper in just to make sure we aren't seen." He said, leading his partner further into the forest.

"Maybe we should biomerge. You know how quickly trouble escalates in the Digital World." BlackAgumon mentioned.

Yamaru thought about his partner's suggestion for a minute before replying. "No, we can't risk one of the Digimon sensing a virus type Digimon as strong as BlackWarGreymon. They might become worried about their safety and injure us so we can't follow."

BlackAgumon sighed in exasperation. "So I guess we have to sneak then." He muttered.

"You know, it might be easier to sneak around if your shirt didn't have all that yellow on it." BlackAgumon pointed out to his Tamer.

Yamaru looked down at his shirt. It had a yellow coat of arms in the middle that read 'Art of Defence, Established 1963', across a banner in the middle and along the bottom of it. His pants were just spotted like a soldier's uniform, only in different shades of black rather than green. Even his shoes were full black leather. He looked back to his partner.

"Hey, this is my favourite shirt and besides, those big emerald eyes of yours aren't exactly subtle either." He rebutted.

"Point taken," BlackAgumon replied.

They walked on for a while longer looking at their surroundings. Thick trees were clustered around them but dotted out as they reached the path. Bushes and small shrubs were placed around, usually right in Yamaru's path causing him to stumble and BlackAgumon to chuckle at his partners' clumsiness.

They neared the edge of the forest just as they saw the Tamers walk through a portal.

"Damn, we're too late." Yamaru mumbled.

"What do you mean?" BlackAgumon asked. Clearly they could go into the portal after them and continue to follow in the shadows.

"If we go in right after them then they'll be sure to notice the portal flash, they'll turn around and not only see a BlackAgumon, but another Tamer. We'll be bombarded with questions that can wait until later." He said.

"So I guess we wait then." BlackAgumon said disappointedly while crossing his arms and sitting on the ground.

"Guess so." Yamaru said, following suit.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Swamp Level.**

"Terriermon, are you sure they came through here? I thought you said they were in the Forest Level." Takato asked the rabbit that was sitting on his usual spot, on Henry's head.

"Hey, my nose may not be as good as Guilmon's but I can still follow the stench of his breath anywhere." Terriermon said covering his nose with his paw and waving the other in the air in front of him.

"Terriermon…" Henry groaned.

"What'd I tell you!?" Terriermon shouted, pointing into the distance.

The Tamers and Digimon all turned to look where the little dog-bunny was pointing and the sight shocked everyone. What started out as a red blob far off in the distance, turned into a more recognisable shape. A red dinosaur with black stripes covering certain spots on his body with bat like wings for ears sticking out of his head. As he got even closer everyone was able to make out the black symbol on his chest; the Digital Hazard. A constant reminder of the immense power the Digimon held.

"GUILMON!" Takato exclaimed while running towards his partner, arms outstretched.

"TAKATOMON!" Guilmon yelled out just as loud in his childish voice as he lept towards his Tamer.

The two crashed into each other and Guilmon fell on top of Takato and started licking his face. Takato didn't care that he was getting dirty from lying on the muddy ground, he was just happy to see his friend again. So happy in fact that Takato began to cry tears of joy.

"I missed you so much Takato. I went to look for you and Renamon and MarineAngemon came with me but you found me first!" He said then continued to lick his Tamers face.

Terriermon made gaging sounds from behind them. Henry tilted his head to the right and Terriermon toppled off his head and hit the ground. He looked up to his friend and gave him a betrayed look.

Henry simply smirked and said "Momentai".

"I missed you too boy. Phew… Terriermon was right about your breath though." Takato said mirroring Terriermon's actions from a few minutes before.

As Guilmon climbed off Takato, a yellow fox Digimon that resembled a kitsune materialised behind Rika, placing a purple gloved arm on her shoulder. Rika turned around and tears came to her eyes when she saw Renamon standing there; one hand on her Tamers shoulder, the other holding the small pink, winged form of MarineAngemon. No words were said as Rika pulled Renamon into a tight embrace.

MarineAngemon floated over to Henry and looked around for Kenta but he was nowhere to be seen. Henry knew who he was looking for and decided to reassure the little angel.

"Kenta wasn't allowed to come back again. Don't worry; we'll get you back to him." Henry said, taking him into his arms.

"Takato, you kept your promise!" Guilmon cheered.

"Of course I did buddy," Takato replied. _'I just have a few other promises that need fulfilling now…'_ He thought as he glanced to Rika and remembered how he had promised her mother, Rumiko, that he would protect her.

"Guys, we should rest soon and catch up. I'm sure the Digimon have a few stories to tell us." Henry said.

"There is a cave that we have been residing in for a while just a little further up. Guilmon had launched out saying something about smelling Takato and sure enough, as you walked closer I managed to sense you all too." Renamon said.

"Then let's go, my feet hurt" Terriermon whined.

"But you've been sitting on my head the whole time!" Henry said.

"Quiet horsy. Onwards!" Terriermon yelled as he jumped up on his Tamers head and yanked on his blue hair lightly.

"Terriermon…" Henry groaned.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Forest Level.  
**  
"I think it should be okay for us to cross through now." Yamaru said, standing up and walking towards the grey portal that emitted black polygonal shapes from it. BlackAgumon stood up and followed closely behind

They crossed through the portal and kept walking as if nothing had happened. The scenery had changed from lush greenery to a murkier brown colour as they became surrounded by swampland. The ground was damp and their feet sunk in a tiny bit.

Yamaru groaned. _'Dear Goddramon I'm not looking forward to cleaning my shoes.' _He thought.

"Now can we biomerge? They're probably asleep and I can sense something powerful around. I'm not sure what though." BlackAgumon asked, the serious look on his face saying that he indeed sensed something powerful.

"Hmmm… Okay fine." Yamaru decided.

He grabbed his D-Arc and held it to his chest.

"BIOMERGE, ACTIVATE!" He called.

_**Biomerge Digivolution…  
**_**"BlackAgumon, Biomerge to….**

Yamaru fell back onto his partner as his body turned to data and combined with BlackAgumon's.

They were replaced by a large bipedal dragon warrior wearing black and silver armour with yellow wires placed like an 'x' down his chest plate. From behind his three horned helmet, golden hair fell onto his 'Brave Shield' that lacked the crest of courage like his cousin WarGreymon had. His hands gripped onto his 'Dramon Killers', the gauntlets that he wears that have three chrome digizoid claws extending from them. His brave shield broke in half, only leaving the top intact, to form wings. He stomped his two clawed feet onto the ground as he exclaimed his name in the dual voices of Yamaru and BlackAgumon.

**BlackWarGreymon!"**

The dragon warrior flew into the swamp heading towards where he could sense the powerful Digimon that could possibly threaten the Tamers' safety.

**Digital World – Eastern Quadrant – Continent of Server.**

"How come you never told me Ryo?" A gruff voice asked.

"I wanted to protect you…" Came the reply.

"Protect me from what?" He said, his voice turning to a growl.

"Yourself. I wanted to protect you from yourself, Cyberdramon. I knew that if you found out too soon then you'd go permanently berserk and the only chance of stopping you would be to delete you. I can't lose you, Cyberdramon." Ryo said, trying to hold back his emotions.

"I want him out of me!" Cyberdramon roared. "I need to fight him!"

"I think I may know of a way to do just that. But fighting him would not be an option. His data would need to be destroyed, the power he has is immense and the kids from the Southern World, as good as they may be, just aren't ready for an enemy like that." Ryo said trying to calm down his partner.

Cyberdramon only replied with a low, guttural growl.

Dark clouds appeared over their heads and Azulongmon appeared again. He looked at the hunched form of Cyberdramon then back to Ryo, trying to assess what their conversation had held. He shrugged it off, as best as a giant serpent can shrug, and opened a white portal with black polygonal shapes emitting from it.

"Are you ready, Ryo? His voice boomed.

"Yes, let's go Cyberdramon." He replied walking through the portal with his partner.

The portal disappeared and Azulongmon sighed. "I can only imagine the pain that poor Digimon goes through having a being such as that merged with him." Azulongmon flew back into the clouds, disappearing, until eventually; the clouds did too, leaving behind the blue sky to shine over the desert they had all been present in.

End Chapter 10.


	11. The unconscious warrior

Getting Used To It.

Chapter 11: The unconscious warrior…**  
Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Swamp Level.**

"I can sense him, Yamaru. He's strong but I'm still not sure whether it's an ultimate or mega yet." BlackWarGreymon said in BlackAgumon's voice.

"We'll just assume it's a mega level then. I don't want to underestimate it and then get our butts handed to us on a silver platter." Yamaru said from within his merged form.

The jet-black dragon warrior flew over the trees and murky swamp on his way to meet his target, destined for deletion. Yamaru checked his D-Arc from within his black data sphere to see where the Tamers had settled for the night. They flew past a cave and he noted its location so he could continue on with his mission after the Digimon was dealt with.

Not long after passing the cave Yamaru noted a clearing up ahead. A figure was standing in the middle of the clearing, attacking a group of Koromon. The little pink heads couldn't get away fast enough before a ball of magma hit the group of them and they all burst into data which he quickly absorbed. The magma burned into the ground and melted the spot where the group of in-training Digimon once stood.

"That animal… He killed a bunch of in-training Digimon. They couldn't even defend themselves!" BlackWarGreymon screamed in his dual voice of Yamaru and BlackAgumon. The anger started to overcome the dragon man and he withdrew his wings and dived towards their dinosaur shaped enemy.

As he drew closer the saurian noticed a new presence flying towards him. Whatever it was, it was strong and it was angry. The data he could sense was immense and he'd have the pleasure of absorbing it. He turned to face his enemy and raised his claws ready to interlock with his opponent.

BlackWarGreymon was only a few meters away before he held his Dramon Killers out in front of him and screamed his attack.

**"Dramon Killer!"** He threw his claws forward, ready to pierce through the scaly green hide of the dinosaur. They locked claws and neither made any attempt to break the hold that they both had, in fear of making a mistake and letting the other gain the advantage.

Yamaru scanned the opponent from his data sphere. "Dinorexmon, Mega level data type. His attacks are Splatter Hunting and Ogre Flame. We should be careful of those talons on his feet. They're half the size of his damned body." He exclaimed.

_"Yamaru, how about we use a Black Tornado while interlocked like this?" _BlackAgumon suggested privately to his partner from within their shared body.

_"Okay, let's try it then." _Yamaru replied.

BlackWarGreymon tightened his hold on the dinosaur and started to rotate his body. Unable to hold his ground any longer, the dinosaur toppled sideways and was drawn into the dark vortex.

**"Black Tornado!" **BlackWarGreymon screamed, giving the green-yellow dinosaur a few slashes and kicks as he spun.

**"Splatter Hunting!" **Dinorexmon grabbed a hold of BlackWarGreymon mid-spin and gripped him with his talons, slowly applying pressure until his talons would eventually slice through his armour.

_"We have to break the hold Yamaru," _BlackAgumon panicked.

_"Oh really? I assumed we'd just let him crush us to death." _Yamaru said sarcastically, rolling his eyes from within his sphere of data.

_"That's it; we're using the Terra Destroyer. It's the only chance we have of beating this fool!"_ BlackAgumon said.

_"No! We'll wake the Tamers, they're only a kilometre or so away and they'll hear the blast." _Yamaru argued.

Dinorexmon became sick of toying with his prey and tightened his hold even more. BlackWarGreymon screamed in pain and writhed in agony, trying and failing to break the hold. Yamaru had no option but to give in at that point.

_"Okay, fine! Terra Destroyer it is." _Yamaru informed his partner.

BlackWarGreymon used all his might to pull his hands out of the grip and raise them above his head. All negative emotions in the digital world gathered between the palms of his hands, took a purple hue and grew to a massive size.

_"The blast will hurt us but it'll delete him instantly." _BlackAgumon noted.

**"Terra… DESTROYER!"**

He dropped the blast right on to his captors head and it exploded on impact. The blast devastated the area, destroying trees, wiping boulders from existence, and killing Dinorexmon. BlackWarGreymon dropped to the ground and absorbed the data of his opponent. It healed him slightly, but not enough. He was tired and unable to stay awake any longer and his knees buckled, causing him to crash to the ground and fall in unconscious in the centre of the crater.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Swamp Level.**

A massive explosion resonated through the cave, waking up all the Tamers and Digimon. Well, all except one. Takato had stayed asleep through the blast. Guilmon shot up, his eyes dilated, while viral side took over and a low, guttural growl came from his throat. Renamon stood up and grabbed Rika in her arms while Terriermon was scared out of his sleep and wrapped his ears around Henry.

"Terriermon, I can't see…" Henry said, trying to remove the bunny's ears from his face.

"Oh… Sorry." He apologized.

"What the heck was that!?" Rika yelled.

"Ugh… Could you please stop yelling? I'm trying to sleep here." Takato said groggily, rolling over and covering his ears.

"Are you kidding me? Didn't you hear that massive explosion?" Terriermon practically yelled.

Takato scratched the back of his head in embarrassment at not hearing whatever had woken the others up. "Uh… Yeah, of course I did." He lied.

_'Stupid, stupid, stupid, cute but stupid gogglehead.'_ Rika mused.

"Idiot…" She muttered.

"So, ah… Should we check it out then?" Impmon asked.

Henry seemed to ponder on the decisions that they had. They could check the situation out and risk getting attacked by whatever it was that caused the explosion or, they could stay in the cave and hope whatever it is doesn't find them.

"How about, Henry and Rika come with me to check it out and Impmon stays here to protect Lopmon and MarineAngemon." Takato suggested.

"That's fine with us." Terriermon said cheerfully from Henry's shoulder.

"I thought I was the Tamer…" Henry said.

"Momentai!" The giggling dog-bunny replied happily.

"Renamon, you ready to digivolve?" Rika asked her kitsune like partner.

"Of course." Renamon replied calmly with a nod of the head.

"I don't know about you guys, but I've been itching to biomerge for years! You ready boy?" Takato asked his saurian partner.

"Ready Takatomon!" Guilmon said cheerily.

"Henry, we can't go MegaGargomon, can we?" Terriermon asked glumly, knowing the answer and reason already.

"Sorry bud, MegaGargomon is too tall and slow. How about Rapidmon?" He inquired.

"Okay!" Terriermon replied, his eagerness returning to him.

All three Tamers walked outside to the cave entrance and pulled out their D-Arcs. Rika pulling a Digivolution Card out of her card pack that sat on her belt, Henry pulling a random card out of his own deck and watched on as it changed into a blue card while Takato threw his D-Arc to his chest while the others scanned their cards.

**"DIGIMODIFY!  
MATRIX DIGIVOLUTION, ACTIVATE!" **Henry yelled as his D-Arc scanned the data from his blue card.

_**Matrix Digivolution.**_

**"DIGIMODIFY!  
DIGIVOLUTION, ACTIVATE!" **Rika said as she swiped her own card through her D-Arc and it cackled as it read the cards data, ready to apply it to Renamon.  
_**Digivolution.**_ Rika's D-Arc said monotonously._**  
**_  
**"Biomerge, activate!"** Takato called as he put his D-Arc to his chest and he fell back onto Guilmon.

_**Biomerge Digivolution.**_

**"Terriermon, Matrix digivolve to…**

A green data sphere encased Terriermon and then grew taller. The familiar green and white rabbit-cyborg emerged from the sphere moments later.

**Rapidmon!"**

**"Renamon digivolve to…**

A yellow data sphere covered Renamon and she was stripped down to the wireframe that remodelled itself so she was a quadruped fox with nine long yellow, white tipped tails. A brilliant white mane surrounded her neck and from it extended a long red and white striped chain that was tied in a bow on the top of her neck, behind her head. The taijitu that was usually on Renamon's purple gloves moved to each of her legs and one was also on her forehead. As she broke out of her sphere, not long after Rapidmon broke out of his, she exclaimed her name.

**Kyubimon!"**

**"Guilmon, biomerge to…**

Takato's body combined with Guilmon's and a bright light shone from their bodies as they merged and became one.

In their place stood a large knight. His whole body was white armoured except for his kneecaps, elbow pads, shoulder guards and part of his feet which where all rimmed with a vibrant yellow. The symbol of the hazard that Guilmon usually bore on his chest was now placed on his kneecaps and the dead centre of his chest. Above where the knight's eyes were, was what looked like Guilmon's forehead and bat-like ears. A long crimson cape drooped down to the knights ankles, fluttering slightly in the breeze. His right arm turned into a large lance named 'Gram' and his left turned to the shield called 'Aegis'. On Aegis was the symbol that adorned Guilmon's forehead, surrounded by a golden circle that was in-turn, surrounded by small triangles facing outwards to the golden rim of the edge of the shield.

**Gallantmon!"**

Takato looked out from his orange sphere through the eyes of Gallantmon.

"You ready guys?" He asked as Rika climbed onto Kyubimon's back and Rapidmon picked up Henry.

They all took off into the swamp following Kyubimon, who was the only one who had a clear indication of the direction it came from. Rapidmon had no trouble keeping up with the fox but Gallantmon wasn't far behind at all, in fact, if he jumped he could've hopped onto Kyubimon's back.

The three Digimon and two humans had been running and flying for what seemed like one billion years according to Rapidmon, but was actually more like fifteen minutes before the trees around them became charred and then disappeared when they got to where the blast had happened.

A massive crater that spanned the better half of a football field lay in front of them. In the middle a vague black shape lie there, unmoving.

"Hey look at that!" Rapidmon called to his friends, pointing to the middle of the crater.

"Do you think he's what was attacked?" Gallantmon asked.

"We'll just have to move in and find out." Rika said as Kyubimon walked towards the centre, followed by Rapidmon, Henry and Gallantmon.

They reached the apex and saw a black armoured figure that shared a lot of similarities with a WarGreymon lying there unconscious. Rika pulled out her D-Arc to scan the Digimon.

"C'mon you piece of junk, scan it! Finally, BlackWarGreymon. Virus type, mega level. His attacks are Dramon Killer, Black Tornado and Terra Destroyer." She read.

"Hmmm…" Henry placed his hand to his chin and begun to contemplate what had happened.

_'A Terra Destroyer was most likely the cause of this crater. This BlackWarGreymon was probably in battle and used his attack, draining his energy and making him fall unconscious. Unless he was fighting a WarGreymon… They've been known to have a natural rivalry. I suppose that's possible, if the WarGreymon used his Terra Force attack it could've made this crater but… A WarGreymon wouldn't leave a threat as big as a BlackWarGreymon alive…' _Henry seemed to be lost deep in thought before being interrupted by Rapidmon.

"Don't hurt your head, Henry." He joked.

"Terri…. Rapidmon!" He groaned.

"Momentai." The green cyborg-bunny giggled.

"I was just thinking that he could've been fighting a WarGreymon that used a Terra Force attack, but then I realized that a WarGreymon wouldn't leave a BlackWarGreymon alive. So that must mean that BlackWarGreymon caused this crater but why is he lying here?" Henry elaborated his thoughts to his friends.

"Jeez, did you even breathe?" Rapidmon quipped before a glare from Rika shut him up.

"I think we should help him." Gallantmon said, hoisting up the injured dragon man over his shoulder.

"Wait gogglehead! What if he's a bad guy?" Rika asked.

"If he turns out to be bad then you can…" Gallantmon was cut off by a flash of white light from BlackWarGreymon's body.

The aforementioned body was now split into two much smaller bodies. A BlackAgumon and a brown haired human boy wearing almost full black clothes. A black D-Arc with white buttons and grey circle around the screen was hung from his neck.

"That's… Another Tamer?" Henry asked rather shocked.

"I thought we were the only ones…" Rika echoed.

"This means we _definitely_ have to help now. Lucky MarineAngemon is with us" Gallantmon said picking up the boy while Rapidmon picked up the BlackAgumon.

"Gee, talk about emo." Rapidmon quipped.

"You really are tactless, you know that?" Henry asked his cyborg partner.

"Momentai, Hen!" Rapidmon laughed at his new name for his Tamer.

"Did you just call me Hen?!" Henry yelled, his face turning red and steam coming out of his ears.

Rapidmon burst out into a fit of laughter as they all made their way back to the cave where Impmon, Lopmon and MarineAngemon were no doubt waiting for them.

End Chapter 11.


	12. The captured Digimon

Getting Used To It…

Chapter 12: The captured Digimon…  
**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Swamp Level.**

Takato and Guilmon as Gallantmon and Rapidmon had hauled the strange boy and his BlackAgumon back to the cave where they were laid down near the fire. Once they were sure he and his partner were all right, they lay down and slowly nodded off back to sleep.

Yamaru opened his eyes slowly. Everything was blurry and didn't seem to be getting any clearer so he wearily raised his hand to his eyes and tried to rub the 'sleep' from them. He sat up and scanned his surroundings, expecting to see the destruction he caused as BlackWarGreymon, but instead he saw walls and a ceiling.

_'How did I get into a cave? I thought I was outside and where's BlackAgumon?' _He looked around for his partner and saw him lying on the other side of the smouldering embers that was once a fire that he was next to.

_'So someone's found us and taken us here…Obviously…But who? No…It couldn't have been the Tamers, could it?'_ As if by magic, Henry happened to look over from where he was sitting on a rock, talking with others about where to go next, and noticed Yamaru sitting up. Henry grabbed some bread and made his way to the boy.

"Hey, do you want some food?" Henry asked as he made his way over.

_'Damn it…'_ "Uh…Yes please." Yamaru answered, grabbing the bread from Henry. He broke it in half and sat a piece aside for BlackAgumon.

"I know we don't really need to eat in the Digital World, but it's good for healing wounds." Henry added.

"Huh, I didn't know that. I guess you really are resourceful." Yamaru noted.

"Pardon?" Henry questioned, confused at how he knew they were 'resourceful'. He always assumed it was just their luck.

"Oh, nothing…" Yamaru dismissed Henry.

"Why don't you come over to the rest of the group? I'll introduce you to the rest of us." Henry said offering a hand to the boy who gladly accepted.

The two boys walked over to the rest of the Tamers and Digimon who were all looking on with expecting and inquisitive eyes. They would surely have a few questions for him.

"Who are you?" Rika stood up and started tapping her foot impatiently.

"Relax Rika. Let's introduce ourselves first." Henry said, trying to calm the redhead.

"This is Rika and her partner Renamon, Takato and Guilmon, Impmon, Lopmon, MarineAngemon and I'm Henry." He said, gesturing to each person as he said their names.

"Hey! What about me?" Terriermon yelled from Henry's head which he had recently jumped onto.

"Momentai, I was getting to you. Anyways, this is Terriermon, my partner." He finished.

"Okay, okay, now who are you?" Rika asked again.

Yamaru mentally sighed before answering, "I'm Yamaru Tadanoka and my partner is the BlackAgumon over there but I assume you already knew that." He said after bowing, showing his respect.

"Nice to meet you Yamaru, I have to ask though, how'd you get to be partners with BlackAgumon?" Takato asked. Yamaru blushed and gave an embarrassed look towards the goggled Tamer.

"Well, uh…You see, I don't really know. One day I woke up and there was a Pagumon sleeping in my arms and we were in the middle of a forest. I soon found out that I was in the digital world," He started. "I found a D-Arc clipped onto my pants and then decided to hang it around my neck instead. It told me that Pagumon and I were partners so we travelled around, trying to find a way back home." He finished solemnly.

"And where exactly do you live?" Lopmon inquired.

"Oh, I live in the south of Shinjuku but my family is moving to the inner western area which means I'll have to change schools too." He answered.

"But the only school in the western area is ours." Takato said.

"I guess that means I'll be going to school with you guys then." He noted.

"Well, you can't be any worse than the Dimwit Duo." Rika sighed.

"Hey, Kazu and Kenta aren't _that_ bad." Yamaru said.

"How did you know their names?" Terriermon asked. "What are you, some kind of stalker?"

"For once I agree with Terriermon." Henry glared at Yamaru.

"Woah, everybody sound the alarm and run for the hills! Here comes Apocalymon!" Terriermon yelled.

"Look, Azulongmon contacted me on my D-Arc one day and told me that you, the Tamers, would arrive in the Digital World soon. He somehow knew that you'd all come back to get your Digimon and told me where they all were. BlackAgumon and I trained for months until we were finally able to biomerge. Then we made our way back home with Azulongmon's help. Then after two months, he contacted me again and said that you had just left and that I should follow you and help if you need it." Yamaru looked at all the shocked expressions on their faces. Well, all except Renamon who had stood calmly and quietly throughout the whole ordeal.

BlackAgumon stirred and Yamaru walked over to him. "Hey bud, have some bread to freshen up." He handed the bread over to his partner who gladly wolfed it down.

"Now, I know that you are looking for Guardromon and Calumon. As you already know, Guardromon became the captain of the Guardro Guard. The Guardro Guard is stationed in Machine City. Machine City is in the Mechanised Level which is quite close to here actually." He said.

"Would you like to come with us?" Guilmon asked BlackAgumon.

"I guess it would be up to Yamaru." He answered, looking to his Tamer with a look that said 'please'.

"It's up to the Tamers bud." He said, looking at the three friends.

"I'd be nice to have someone new around." Rika said with a genuine smile.

_'Oh well that's just great. Rika's hitting on the new guy. Is she hitting on him, or just opening up? I don't even know…' _Takato thought. "Well we should get going then. Yamaru can you lead the way?" He asked.

"I'd be glad to."

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Mechanised Level**

In an alleyway deep in the heart of a metallic city, a boy and a black dragon like creature appeared in a flash of light.

"Where are we Cyberdramon?" The young brown haired boy asked.

His partner, Cyberdramon, scanned their surroundings: the high rise buildings, the stalls, and the mechanical look to it all. "Machine City," He stated.

"I guess we should go look for the others then." He said, walking out of the alley, followed closely by Cyberdramon.

They walked around the market place for a while seeing Digimon of all kinds: from Gazimon to Gabumon, Andromon to Ankylomon. At one point, Ryo saw a DigiTamamon yelling at some Gommamon because they didn't pay for the ramen they had eaten.

Deciding that Takato and the others weren't in the market place, Ryo and Cyberdramon headed down a side street when Cyberdramon sensed a massive gathering of Digimon a street over. Ryo wanted to check it out so he jumped onto his partners back and he lept over the small, one story building between them and the gathering.

"Hey, can anyone tell me what this is all about?" Ryo asked a Guardromon that was standing in front of the group.

"Why, yes, I can. Three thieves were locked in the cells downstairs of the jail in front of you. A little Digimon was playing with the keys for some reason and dropped them near one of the cells. The thief grabbed the keys and unlocked his cage as well as his cohorts." He said in a monotonous, mechanical voice.

"So that's it? A few escaped Digimon?" Ryo asked.

"No, the two Guardromon on duty were overpowered and locked in a cell with the little Digimon." He finished.

"This little Digimon seems to be getting into a lot of trouble. Do you know what kind of Digimon he was?" He asked.

"I believe it was called a Calumon." The Guardromon replied.

"Hahah, I should've known. Only Calumon could cause such a ruckus. Tell ya' what, me and Cyberdramon will go in and deal with this." He said running off, not even bothering to wait for an answer.

He ran inside the building and found the staircase that lead downstairs to the cells by an iron desk. He moved down swiftly and came into a corridor with barred doors lining each side of the walls with another single cage at the end.

Cyberdramon snarled and ran ahead. Ryo quickly followed and as he got closer, "Ryo!" someone called his name.

"That wasn't Cyberdramon…" He noted.

"Of course not, it is I, Guardromon!"

Ryo ran forwards to the end of the corridor and sure enough, in the cell was two Guardromon and a sleeping Calumon.

"So you're the Guardromon that was locked up then huh?" He said with a smirk.

"We were outnumbered and cornered in here." He said glumly.

"No worries, Cyberdramon will get you out." He stated cheerfully.

**"Cyber…"** Cyberdramon started to call out his attack before he was hit from both sides of his body.

**"Wolf Claw!"**

"Garuru Kick!"

Cyberdramon roared in pain as the attacks connected with his body.

"You can't release our prisoners. You'll have to go through us and our leader!" One of the assailants roared.

"We are the ones who locked them in there and they cannot be released. They're our ticket outta here." Came a more husky voice from behind Ryo.

"Who are you guys anyway?" Ryo asked, trying to mask the nervousness in his voice.

"We are all WereGarurumon and again, if you want them, you'll have to delete us first!" Said the WereGarurumon on the left of Cyberdramon, who then lept at the dragon.

**"Desolation Claw!"** Cyberdramon yelled as his he backhanded the WereGarurumon and sent him flying into the cell door that held the three captives. The door crumbled under the force of the collision freeing the captives and waking a tired Calumon.

The WereGarurumon cried out as he dissipated into data that was absorbed by his leader. The deputy Guardromon ran out to attack the other WereGarurumon to try and even the odds.

However the champion level robot was dispatched and turned into data by the ultimate level wolf, which had kicked him in the head with a Garuru Kick. The wolf had decided to celebrate too soon, leaving himself open for an attack by Cyberdramon.

**"Cyber Nail!"** He roared as rammed his nail into the back of the wolf's head, turning him into data.

The leader ran in front of Cyberdramon and absorbed the data of both the Guardromon and his fellow WereGarurumon. A white light enveloped the WereGarurumon as he rose into air and his form changed.

"Uh-oh…" Calumon cowered, pulling his ears over his eyes.

"You can say that again." Guardromon agreed.

**"WereGarurumon, digivolve to…**

The wolf's form was covered in a data grid as it re-shaped into a mechanical quadruped. He was covered in blue armour and yellow wings sprouted from his shoulder blades. His tail went from being furry to being a sharp blade made of Chrome Digizoid.

**MetalGarurumon!"**

"Great, he digivolved to mega…" Ryo sighed.

"Finally! A worthy opponent!" Cyberdramon yelled as he lunged towards the cyborg-wolf.

**"Garuru Tomahawk!"** MetalGarurumon called as he reared up on his hind legs and a missile shot out of his chest compartment and hit Cyberdramon in the face, launching him and Ryo through the level above them and the roof as well.

They landed with a thud on the cold, hard ground as Digimon around them gasped at what they had just seen. MetalGarurumon flew out of the hole and waited in the sky for his enemies to get up and fight. A dull grey smoke billowed in the sky as the building below crumbled under the lack of support. Guardromon had grabbed Calumon and narrowly escaped the falling debris.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Mechanised Level**

"I'm sick of sand…" Terriermon grumbled as he and his friends walked through the desert towards Machine City, which they could see from their position atop a sand dune.

"I guess this is as good a time to rest as any." Takato said as Guilmon collapsed to the ground next to Lopmon and MarineAngemon.

"I wouldn't be taking that rest right now Takato." Yamaru said worriedly.

"Well why the hell not? Can't you see we're all tired?" Rika snapped.

"I can see that you're all tired and I am too but I just saw an explosion come from the city and now there's smoke coming from it. Your friends may be in trouble." He said.

"Well then let's go see what the trouble is!" Takato said valiantly.

"Alright! Something exciting!" Terriermon yelled, raising a tiny paw in the air.

Takato, Rika and Yamaru all raised their D-Arcs to their chests as Henry swiped a blue card through his D-Arc. Impmon didn't want to miss out on the action so he too, digivolved.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Mechanised Level – Machine City.**

MetalGarurumon had been waiting patiently for his targets to get up for quite a while before movement came from the dragon.

"Ugh… Ryo?" Cyberdramon asked. "Looks like I'm on my own then…"

Cyberdramon stood up and flexed his crimson wings before flying up to meet the smug wolf.

"I didn't think you'd ever get back up." He mocked.

"Shut up and fight." Cyberdramon growled.

"So be it. **Metal Wolf Claw!"** He yelled as a thin blue beam of energy flew from his mouth as sent Cyberdramon barrelling towards the ground next to his Tamer.

The impact of Cyberdramon hitting the ground woke Ryo, who quickly remembered his situation.

"Cyberdramon! Take me up with you and we'll biomerge. We have a better chance as Justimon." He said.

"Climb on," Cyberdramon said, gesturing to his back.

Ryo climbed onto his partners back and they flew up to meet the wolf once again.

"LEAVE THEM ALONE! **LIGHTENING JOUST!"** Yelled a voice from far away as a shot of blue energy zoomed towards MetalGarurumon. The robotic wolf flew down a little bit to avoid the sneak attack.

"That's Gallantmon's attack…" Ryo said, surprised as he looked around for where it had been shot from.

"Ryo over here! Are you okay?" Gallantmon asked from atop a building. Standing next to him was Sakuyamon, Rika and Renamon's biomerged form, Rapidmon, Henry, Lopmon, Beelzemon, MarineAngemon and a BlackWarGreymon.

_'Why is there a BlackWarGreymon?' _He thought."Yeah, I'm fine now that I've got a little help!" He yelled back.

"Takato, you and Yamaru should go in and help while we stay back just in-case. I doubt we'd need more than one mega but it's better to be safe." Henry said.

Sakuyamon, Beelzemon and Rapidmon all nodded in response, seeing Henry's logic. BlackWarGreymon grabbed Gallantmon and they flew off towards Ryo and Cyberdramon to lend a hand.

"Ryo, you should biomerge with Cyberdramon!" Rika yelled from Sakuyamon.

Cyberdramon, Gallantmon and BlackWarGreymon all turned to look at Rika as Ryo nodded.

"Calm down princess, I was about to before you all showed up!" He called as he rose his D-Arc to his chest.

**"Cyberdramon, bio…"** He started to call.

"Oh, no you don't," MetalGarurumon growled. Everyone had apparently forgotten about him for the moment so he positioned himself right behind the shining light that was Ryo and Cyberdramon biomerging. **"Metal Wolf Claw!"**

The thin blue beam screamed through the air and hit Ryo and Cyberdramon in the back in the middle of the biomerging process. They screamed in unison and Cyberdramon turned into his rookie level, Monodramon. The blast sent them through the air onto the rooftop that the other Tamers and Digimon were standing on. Rapidmon managed to catch Monodramon and Beelzemon only barely caught Ryo.

MarineAngemon used his 'Kahuna Waves' attack to heal Monodramon as Ryo found his footing.

"I guess I shouldn't have taken my eyes off of him…" Ryo said.

"That was a dirty trick!" Gallantmon yelled. "How dare you hurt our friends. You'll pay!"

Crimson light came down from the sky and enveloped Gallantmon. BlackWarGreymon looked on in amazement while MetalGarurumon was lost for words.

"Is he?" Beelzemon asked.

"He's mode changing." Rika said happily.

_"You seem happier than usual Rika." _Renamon said to her Tamer privately from within their body.

_"We haven't seen Gallantmon mode change since the D-Reaper. I thought it was a one-time thing but Gogglehead just keeps on finding new ways to amaze me." _She replied.

**"Gallantmon, mode change to….**

Gallantmon's body was covered in crimson armour with bright yellow outlining around each piece of armour. White, angelic wings erupted from his back as a spear of energy materialised in his left hand while a sword of energy materialised in his right hand.

**Gallantmon: Crimson Mode!"**

"You, MetalGarurumon, are lucky that we can't hold this form for long, so your justice shall be served quick. Are you ready BlackWarGreymon?" He asked the stunned dragon man.

"Right, yeah!" He answered as he put his hands together and formed a small purple ball between them. He threw his hands above his head as he spread them apart, making the ball grow in size dramatically.

Out of nowhere, Gallantmon: Crimson Mode flew inside the ball of energy and through gritted teeth called out for him to launch the ball of destructive energy. MetalGarurumon was in shock and couldn't move a limb even if his life depended on it, and in this case, it did.

**"TERRA DESTROYER!" **BlackWarGreymon yelled as he threw his attack, along with Gallantmon, with all of his might.

Gallantmon could see MetalGarurumon getting closer and closer. Just as the attack collided with the wolf's body, Gallantmon flew forwards and launched his own attack.

**"Invincible Sword!"** He screamed as he slashed MetalGarurumon's stomach. The wolf screamed as he burst into data. Rapidmon picked up Monodramon and flew over to the data, letting the little purple and yellow dinosaur-dragon absorb it and heal himself.

Sakuyamon spotted Takato and Guilmon being carried back by BlackWarGreymon and as soon as they were let down onto the rooftop she and Renamon dedigivolved. Rika ran over to Takato and slapped him across the cheek, leaving a light red mark.

"What are you? Suicidal? That was by far the most stupidest thing you've ever done!" She yelled.

"Yeah, I guess it was pretty dumb…I just couldn't believe he pulled a fast one on Ryo like that so I mode changed somehow and without thinking I combined Yamaru's attack with my own…" He said, one hand rubbing his cheek, the other scratching the back of his head like he did in these kinds of situations.

_'I'm just glad he's safe.'_ She thought.

"Eskimo Kisses!" Calumon called as he jumped up onto Rika's face and rubbed his face against hers.

"You're lucky you're cute Calumon…" Rika said, pulling the little Digimon off her face and holding him in her arms.

"Guardromon, it's good to see you again." Lopmon addressed to the rust coloured robot.

"It is good to see you too Lopmon and co." He replied. "I noticed Kazu isn't here…"

"Sorry pal, Kazu couldn't come with us so we came to get you and take you back to him. I promised him and it looks like that's another promise I can keep." Takato said. The mention of seeing his Tamer again made Guardromon extremely excited and he couldn't wait to go back to the human world.

"Now you've got just one more promise Takato." Rapidmon said as he dedigivolved back to Terriermon who smirked as he jumped onto Henry's head. Everyone gave looks of confusion to the goggled Tamer and the cream dog-bunny.

_'Two actually…' _He mused.

"What's he talking about Takato?" Rika asked while Terriermon giggled.

"I have no idea…" Takato lied.

"We should really rest for the night. Henry needs to e-mail Yamaki and tell him that we're ready for extraction anytime now." BlackAgumon noted after he and Yamaru and dedigivolved.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. You're a Tamer?!" Ryo asked the boy dressed in black.

"It also seems like we all have a few stories to tell," Yamaru said with a smile. He glanced at his D-Arc which displayed a detailed map of the city. "There's an apartment building just a block or so away. We can stay there." He said.

"Finally, I don't have to sleep on the ground." Terriermon cheered.

"All right then, let's go." Henry said as they all walked after Yamaru and BlackAgumon.

End Chapter 12.


	13. Ryo's night of information

Getting Used To It…

Chapter 13: Ryo's night of information…  
**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Mechanised Level.**

The Tamers had arrived at the hotel in the late afternoon and booked their rooms for the night. However, let's just say the room pairings didn't go quite the way they expected. They each expected to be put into a separate room each, but because of the lack of rooms they had to double-up. Or in Henry's case, a term Terriermon referred to as Digi-sit.

Henry and Terriermon were put in with Lopmon, MarineAngemon, Calumon and Impmon, Yamaru and BlackAgumon were placed with Ryo and Monodramon, Guardromon went back to the Guardro Station for the night as he would resign in the morning.

This only left Rika, Renamon, Takato and Guilmon, who were all placed in the same room. Much to the embarrassment of the two Tamers.

_'Ugh, just my luck. Out of everyone I'm placed with _him_.' _Rika thought.

_'Come now Rika, what is honestly so bad about Takato?__' _Renamon replied to Rika's surprise.

_'Renamon? Glad to know our telepathic bond is still up. I don't know why we didn't try it earlier. And in answer to your question; I'll tell you later.' _Rika said in her mind.

_'As you wish,'_ Was the reply.

"So Yamaru, looks like we're in the same room. At least it gives me a chance to hear your story." Ryo said with a friendly smile. Everyone had stayed down in the lobby after being told what rooms they were in, seeing no point in going to bed just yet.

"Well here's the shortened version; I woke up in the digital world with a sleeping Pagumon and a D-Arc. Azulongmon contacted me and told me all about you and that, one day in the near future, you would need my help. So my partner and I trained until we were able to biomerge into BlackWarGreymon and then managed to get back home with Ebonwumon's help. Not too long after being home, I think around two months or so, Azulongmon contacted me again, saying that you four had left for the Digital World and might need my help." Yamaru explained while Ryo listened intently.

"I guess he meant the whole MetalGarurumon thing then." Ryo noted.

"Actually, I don't think so." Yamaru said, casting his gaze over to the other Tamers and Digimon sitting on the couches that were scattered around the hotel's lobby.

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked.

"Well think about it. He got a sneak attack on you, but that still left Beelzemon, MarineAngemon, Gallantmon, Sakuyamon and if it was really necessary, Rapidmon could have dedigivolved to Terriermon and biomerged with Henry. That's five megas to one." Yamaru stated bluntly.

"Well what do you think he meant then?" Ryo wondered aloud.

"I guess we'll find out soon. But for now, you should just celebrate your reunion." Yamaru said, looking once again at all his new friends.

"You know what I miss the most?" He heard Guilmon say.

"What would that be Guilmon?" Lopmon asked.

_'I bet he says Guilmon Bread…'_ Terriermon thought.

"Takato's parents. They were so nice and funny." He said with a childish giggle.

"WHHAAAAATT?" Terriermon yelled, astounded that Guilmon hadn't said bread.

"I'm with you little bunny, I thought he was going to say bread too." Renamon said.

"Hey, I'm a _dog-bunny!_" Terriermon corrected.

"You just have to comment on everything…" Henry sighed.

"Well what did you guys miss then?" Impmon inquired.

"I missed Seiko and Rumiko. Rika needn't be mentioned because you all should have known that." Renamon said calmly, without hesitation of her feelings showing.

_'Well… If Renamon can show her feelings a lot more openly now, then I guess I can too.'_ Rika thought, albeit a lot more carefully as to not make the thought telepathic this time around.

"Well, I actually did miss Suzie always chasing Lopmon and me around the house. As much as it might have annoyed me, it was fun." Terriermon said happily.

"I missed Jeri and Takato and Rika and Henry and Kazu and Kenta and Suzie and Ryo!" Calumon cheered, jumping from each present Tamers head as he said their names, finally coming to a stop on Ryo's head.

Takato couldn't help but chuckle at the little white and purple fairy Digimon. "We missed you too Calumon." He said.

"I miss Ai and Mako. They'd be seven now, right? Gee, I've missed out on a lot of their childhood." Impmon said glumly.

"I miss Suzie's naivety and childishness. It always made me optimistic." Lopmon noted.

"I missed my gallant Tamer, Kazu!" Guardromon said valiantly.

Rika laughed aloud. "If anything it's Takato who's gallant, I mean he is Gallantmon."

Takato's mouth hit the floor as he stared at Rika. "D-did you just compliment me?"

"W-well yeah. What? I can't compliment yo…people?" She stammered while one hundred shades of red crossed over her cheeks.

_'Hmmm…'_ Was the only thought that crossed Renamon's mind while watching the events unfold.

"As much as I'd hate to ruin the sudden awkwardness, I'm just slightly curios. Yamaru, if you don't mind me asking, what's your family like?" Henry asked.

"Well, I live with my mother Maria Tadanoka and younger brother, Tahu Tadanoka. My father, Daniel, left us when I was two and my brother was only a few months, he has no memories of dad and what I do remember is small things." He said casually.

"You don't seem bothered by that." Rika stated with a hint of anger. The reason she was so cold was because her father left, it destroyed her and he seemed to brush it off as if it hadn't even happened.

"In time I realized that it's best not to dwell on the fact that my father is no longer there for me and to focus on the future and my family and well now you guys, my friends." He replied.

The words hit Rika like a cinderblock. _'He's right. I should stop keeping myself all closed up because of my father and focus on my family and friends. But how do I go about opening up without embarrassing myself like before?' _She wondered.

"Can you tell us more about your brother?" Takato asked.

"Well as I said before, his name is Tahu. He's fifteen and can be really annoying at times." Yamaru started.

"Hmmm… Competition." Terriermon muttered from atop his Tamers head.

"Terriermon." Henry sighed.

"Momentai!" Cheered the bunny.

A few small chuckles came from Tamers and Digimon alike at the two opposites, having one of their regular arguments.

"I guess it's time we all headed to bed…" Said Ryo as he looked out the window to the dark sky that showed no hint of a moon or stars.

"I'll e-mail Yamaki when I get to my room. I'll tell him to pick us up in the morning around 10:00." Henry said.

"It's settled then, everyone be up and ready by 9:30." Takato addressed to everyone before turning to Rika. "You ready to go to the room?" He asked.

"Uh… yeah." She said with a blush that Takato didn't understand the reason for.

As Takato and Rika headed towards their room, Yamaru and Ryo were just settling into theirs. Monodramon had been sleeping in the room all afternoon on a chair in the corner. Yamaru walked into the kitchen area and leaned on the counter as he looked at Ryo. Ryo noticed Yamaru staring at him and decided to ask why.

"So, uh… Any reason you're staring? I'll have you know I don't swing that way." He said jokingly.

Yamaru chuckled lightly before he replied. "I was just wondering how you were going to break it to them."

"What are you talking about?" Ryo asked seriously just to make sure his hunch was right.

Yamaru walked over to Ryo so he could speak softer. "Milleniummon."

"How the hell do you know about that?" Ryo spat.

"When I said Azulongmon told me all about you, I meant _all_ about _you_. The others assumed that when I said you, I was referring to all of them as a group, what they didn't realize is that I was talking about you specifically. Sure they did tell me a bit about the others, but I know more about you." Yamaru replied.

"Honestly, I have no clue. The only way I know of to get Milleniummon out of Monodramon is to delete him and that is completely out of the question." Ryo told the slightly shorter boy.

"Well, I'm willing to help you if you want me to, Ryo." Yamaru offered.

"Thanks, Yamaru. It's good to know that I'm not in this alone. Don't take offence to this but I think the only person that could help me through this mentally is a boy named Ken. But I can't get in contact with him." Ryo said.

"You mean Ken Ichijouji?" Yamaru asked.

"Wow, he really did tell you everything." Ryo noted, feeling a little betrayed by Azulongmon but knowing that he must've had a good reason for telling Yamaru these things.

"You're right though. I'm not Ken, who could match one of the smartest kids in Japan? Well, his world's Japan at least. But we do need to find a way to contact him, only the four chosen can beat Milleniummon. At least that's what Baihumon said." Yamaru informed the brown haired boy.

"The four chosen, huh? Very prophetic..." Ryo said.

"Apparently. It's obvious that you and Ken are two of the four, but who are the others?" Yamaru wondered.

"The other two could be Wormmon and Monodramon." Ryo stated.

"I suppose that could be a possibility." Yamaru agreed.

"Fanglongmon said it would take the two eastern Digimon to become one along with the two Digimon of darkness. When the four become two." He said, countering his own argument. "What could that mean?"

"Who's Fanglongmon?" Ryo asked.

"He's the fifth sovereign, probably stronger than the others and I guess you could say that he leads them, although there is no true leader. I'm not sure where he rules though…" Yamaru explained.

"Oh… Hang on a sec; I think it might mean DNA Digivolving." Ryo mentioned.

"What's that?" Yamaru asked.

"Well as you know, the kids from the Eastern Quadrant are a TV show here and, judging by your question, you haven't really watched it." Ryo noted as he moved to the edge of the bed to sit down as Yamaru took the seat next to the sleeping Monodramon.

"Can't say I have." Yamaru said.

"Well it's kind of like biomerging, but instead of a rookie level Digimon and a human fusing, two Digimon fuse together." Ryo said.

Yamaru's face took on a look of amazement upon hearing Ryo's words. "How many of the DigiDestined have the ability to do that?" He asked.

"Well the first two to successfully have their Digimon DNA Digivolve were Tai Kamiya and Matt Ishida. They were fighting against a Diaboromon, inside of a computer, that managed to clone itself millions of times, only through the power of messages from kids worldwide that were witnessing the battle over the internet, were WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon able to merge together and create Omnimon." He finished.

"Wow. So only Tai and Matt?" He asked.

"Nope. Davis and Ken can make ExVeemon and Stingmon merge to Paildramon. What's even more amazing is that Paildramon can digivolve to Imperialdramon, who can mode change from Dragon Mode to Fighter Mode." He said.

"That is unbelievable." Yamaru said.

"Yeah? Well guess what? After a while, Diaboromon returned as Armageddemon and defeated Omnimon. Imperialdramon was the last hope so Omnimon gave him all of his power, forcing himself to dedigivolve to Agumon and Gabumon, and turned Imperialdramon into Imperialdramon: Paladin Mode." He finished.

"Imperialdramon sounds unbeatable." Yamaru noted, still amazed at what he had learned.

"Pfft. We can take him!" BlackAgumon said as he jumped up onto the kitchen counter with a carton of milk in hand.

"You seem so sure of yourself." Ryo noted.

"Are there any others? Yamaru asked once again.

"Yeah, Takeru Ishida's Angemon and Cody Hida's Ankylomon make Shakkoumon, Kari Kamiya's Gatomon and Yolei Inoue's Aquilamon make Silphymon." Ryo finished.

"Just imagining it happening to one of us, being able to DNA Digivolve. What Digimon would it create, how strong would it be?" Yamaru started saying.

"Calm down, Yamaru. You'll give yourself a nosebleed." BlackAgumon mocked.

"Thanks, Yamaru." Ryo said as he climbed into the soft bed nearest to the window.

"No worries, Ryo." He replied as they both lay down and waited for the unconsciousness of sleep to encompass them.

"Oh, okay guys. I'll just sleep over here on the other uncomfortable chair. I don't know how you can sleep on these Monodramon…" BlackAgumon mumbled as he tried to fall asleep on the chair next to his Digimon counterpart.

"But she's already forgiven you." Henry said.

"I know, but that's not enough. There has to be some way to bring him back." Impmon replied gruffly.

"Could you ask the sovereigns?" Henry inquired.

"Nup, we already tried that. They said that if word got out that they could bring Digimon back to life, their fortresses would be overrun with Digimon wanting their friends brought back and even the sovereigns couldn't handle a full-scale rebellion." Terriermon replied, a rare sense of seriousness in his tone.

"Impmon?" Henry tried to get the little Imp's attention and succeeding.

"Yeah?"

"There is a way. I forgot about it to begin with but it just came back to me. Yamaki had known that one day we'd get the chance to retrieve you all and he had some people working on a machine to extract certain data patterns from other data patterns and reconfigure it." He explained.

"S-so that means?" Impmon stuttered.

"Yes."

-

_'Don't you have something you need to tell me Rika?'_ Renamon asked Rika through telepathy, knowing that whatever Rika needed to say, had to be said in private even though Guilmon's snoring could probably block Takato from waking.

_'Well, when you were taken from me I promised I would try and let myself feel more than just anger and rage.' _The red headed girl replied.

_'I see. How did that work?' _Renamon asked although she had a hunch that she already knew what Rika was going to say.

_'Well, I think I like the Gogglehead.' _Rika admitted.

_'What do you plan to do about it?' _The kitsune asked.

_'I don't know. But what Yamaru said today also had an impact on me too. How he and his brother were abandoned by their father too but they just moved on and dealt with more important things. That's the difference between Yamaru and I, he moved on and tried to make friends and I just stayed a cold, empty shell. So I said to myself then and there that I would open up even more but I don't know how.'_ Rika complained to her partner.

_'Ask out Takato.' _Renamon stated bluntly.

_'What?'_ Rika said.

_'You want to open up? Start with one of the strongest feelings a human has, to my understanding. Love.' _The fox explained.

_'What if… It all goes sour and he says no? What if it ruins our friendship?'_ Rika worried.

_'Impmon killed Leomon and even though he almost destroyed the Digital World in rage at first, he still forgave him.'_ Renamon said coolly.

_'Okay, when we get back, I'll do it.' _Rika agreed.

-

_'Can't believe that I'm stuck babysitting all the Tamer-less Digimon. Oh, and Calumon. I wonder if he could get a Tamer now that he's a proper Digimon and not just an entity to hold the Catalyst.'_ Henry thought as he looked around at all the sleeping Digimon who's Tamers weren't there at the moment.

_'Guess I better send that message before I forget.' _Henry thought as he grabbed out the communicator and stated thinking about how to word what needed to be said. After a few short minutes he had typed it up so it left no room for confusion and sent it off for Yamaki to read and prepare.

**Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building – Floor 29 – Hypnos**

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

Yamaki strolled over to his desk, flicking his lighter open and closed, to see what all the beeping coming from the draws was. He pulled the draw open rather violently to see the communicator flashing, letting him know that a message had been received.

"I was starting to think they'd never message me." He mused.

**"Yamaki;  
The others and I have found the Digimon. We ran into a few Digimon wanting to kill us but they weren't anything that we couldn't handle. Can you send it around 10:00 am? Also, I hope you have two extra spaces in that Ark of yours because we found another Tamer named Yamaru Tadanoka who is partnered with a BlackAgumon and we're bringing them back with us.**

**I know you have a lot of questions for him so here are a few answers;**  
**He is a seventeen year old male, lives in South Shinjuku but his family is moving to the West and will need a spot in our school if you could help with that, you might want to enrol his brother Tahu Tadanoka (fifteen) while you're at it, preferably in either mine or Takato's class. He's already up to our level of fighting, being able to biomerge to BlackWarGreymon.**

**We would like the Ark to pick us up from the Mechanised Level, just outside of Machine City if that's possible.**

**Thanks,**  
**Henry."**

Yamaki thought about the prospect of a new Tamer and was quick to accept him. He entered the arrangements of school transferring into the system straight away so that when his family moved, all that would need to be done could happen in the click of a button.

Yamaki began typing a message back to Henry.

**"Henry;  
The Ark will be there to pick you up at 10:00am, just outside the northern gate, again you only have the one chance, so don't screw around. The two Tadanoka boys will both be enrolled into Takato's class and I've also set you and Jeri to be transferred into that class as well. Mrs Asaji can hate the government all she wants but I think that it'd be better for all the Tamers to be in the same class.**

**P.S. The extraction machine is also ready when Impmon is.**

**See you all soon,**  
**Yamaki."**

With the message sent, Yamaki wondered over to the computer at another desk a few meters from his and programmed the Ark's coordinates. All was ready for the Tamers to return home.

**Somewhere Unknown.**

"Hmm… They are going back to their world already. My chance at destroying them in this world is slim now. They will escape before anyone at my disposal will arrive."

"Well, Lucemon it looks like we'll just have to bide our time until we get stronger and the barrier that holds us here weakens. For now we'll just have to keep sending Digimon to their world to try and deal with them." Said a gruff, guttural voice that addressed the angel Digimon as Lucemon.

"That's the only plan we have right now Belphemon." Said another more feminine voice.

"This is why we shall stick to it for now, Lilithmon." Lucemon stated.

"I also think that we should keep an eye on the Ichijouji boy in the Eastern Quadrant that Ryo mentioned." Belphemon added.

"Ichijouji?" Echoed yet another voice. This one more low and menacing.

"Yes. Have you heard of him Daemon?" Lucemon asked.

"Remember when I escaped from my part of this damned world a few years ago? It was the Ichijouji boy and his friends that locked me back here. They're also the ones that strengthened the barrier." He spat.

"We also have the case of Milleniummon to deal with." Lucemon informed.

"Yes, if he is rampant for too long he could very well destroy both the human and digital worlds." Lilithmon agreed.

"The only way to deal with Milleniummon is to help Ryo and Ken. To do that we need them to extract the data of Milleniummon out of Monodramon." Belphemon stated.

"Yes but that machine they have for the traitor's use is not powerful enough to handle his data." Lucemon said.

"There is also the matter of the two dark ones. They both need to be able to reach the mega level before anything else, not just one of them. To further the problem even more, one of them doesn't even have his Digimon yet." Belphemon said huskily.

"When I can gather enough energy I will send that Tamers Digimon to him in the human world. Forming the bond is entirely in their hands." Lucemon told his counterparts.

"I'm afraid that helping them along so much may not sway the odds in our favour." Lilithmon worried aloud.

"That is a risk that we'll have to take. Milleniummon is stronger than any other Digimon and needs to be eradicated permanently." Belphemon said.

"It will all happen in time. We need not rush." Lucemon said quietly.

End Chapter 13.


	14. The return

Getting Used To It…

Chapter 13: The return…  
**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Mechanised Level.**

"Gogglehead, get up we have to meet the others in the lobby." Rika said as she moved her wristbands to a more comfortable position. She looked at the figure of the sleeping boy and walked over to him.

"GET UP NOW GOGGLEBRAIN!" She yelled.

"Waaah…Oof!" Takato moaned as he picked himself up off the floor. "What was that for?" He complained.

"Aren't you the one who told us all to meet at 9:30?" She asked.

"Yeah, I did… Crap, what time is it?"

"Its 9:50 Takato, I tried for ten minutes to get you up quietly, then another few being a bit louder, then I just got sick of it and yelled in your ear." She explained. "Now help me get up bread-for-brains." She ordered.

"Bread?" Guilmon asked as he quickly shot out of his coma like sleep.

"That was easier than I originally anticipated it would be." Renamon said as she seemingly appeared from out of nowhere.

"Let's go, we've only got ten minutes and I told everyone else to go ahead." Rika said.

"Okay, so where do we meet them?" Takato asked.

"Just outside of the northern gate, it's not that far at all." Rika told the goggled boy.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Takato yelled as he ran out the door, Rika and Guilmon following close behind as Renamon had disappeared once again.

The two Tamers and Digimon took off at a sprint through the glistening city at a sprint. They had only a few minutes to make it to the Ark and Rika would be damned if she almost missed it again. As they were running through the marketplace, the north gate came into view. Guilmon yelled out something inaudible as he ran past with a mouthful of ramen and an angered DigiTamamon chasing him, who quickly gave up after realizing the saurian was too fast for him.

Guilmon didn't realize that the DigiTamamon wasn't chasing him anymore and ran right past Takato and as he passed Rika, his tail swung out and hit her in the back of the knee, causing her to collapse.

_'Argh…wait, where's the pavement?'_ Rika thought as she opened her eyes and looked around. She found that she had stopped just before hitting the ground as Takato had grabbed hold of her around the waist and pulled her back to her feet.

"Thanks goggles, I owe you one." Rika said.

"I'm holding you to that." Takato replied jokingly.

"Can you still run?" Renamon asked as she appeared from nowhere.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that…" Takato muttered.

"I can but it hurts." She answered.

"I'll carry you then." Renamon said as she scooped Rika up in her arms.

Guilmon had stopped after knocking Rika down and felt really guilty for hurting a friend and stumbled over to apologize.

"I'm really sorry, Rika. I didn't mean to knock you down but that mean egg-thingy was chasing me because I ate some of his food." He explained and waited for her to berate him.

"It's okay dino-boy, I know you didn't mean it. _But_, to make it up to me, you have to let Takato ride you so he can keep up." She said.

"Okay, climb on Takatomon!" He yelled cheerily, his usual attitude returning.

-

"C'mon, they can't miss it this time." Henry said as he stared off towards the gate, looking for any signs of Rika and Takato.

"Relax; they'll turn up in time." Impmon reassured.

"You underestimate Takato and Guilmon." Terriermon mocked.

"Great way to reassure Henry, Terriermon." Lopmon said, giving Terriermon a stern look.

"I could go look for them if you want?" Yamaru offered as he walked over to Henry.

"Looks like you won't need to!" Guardromon shouted from above. "They're coming this way now!"

"Well, that changes the story dramatically." Ryo stated with a large smile dominating his features.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Henry inquired, confused as to what Ryo was talking about.

"Usually, the prince wakes up the sleeping princess, not the princess wakes up the sleeping gogglehead." He explained as Yamaru began to laugh.

"I think Takato could be a princess…" Terriermon said between laughs.

"Don't let Rika catch you saying that." Henry warned his brown haired friend.

"Catch who saying what?" Rika asked, hands on her hips while she tapped her foot rhythmically on the golden sand.

"Ah… Nothing!" Ryo said awkwardly.

Ryo's awkwardness caused Yamaru to fall down laughing and Terriermon to fall off Henry's head, laughing at not only Yamaru and Ryo, but a mental image of Takato dressed in a frilly pink dress, being carried down a flight of stairs by Rika.

"What's so funny?" Guilmon asked.

"Just another one of Terriermon's bad jokes that Yamaru thought was funny." Henry lied.

This caused Terriermon to stop laughing completely and evil-eye his Tamer. "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself old pal." He warned in a joking manner.

"How could you have possibly come up with something as bad as that?" Rika mocked.

"Aww, c'mon! That was funny!" Terriermon complained loudly.

"Sorry to break it to ya dude, but that was pretty bad." Yamaru said after he picked himself up and dusted the sand from his clothes.

"Aw, nuts." He whined.

"Pipipuhpi!" MarineAngemon chirped.

"If only Kenta were here to translate for us." Takato noted.

"I think he'd be saying how bad Terriermon's comeback was." Guilmon stated causally.

"Aw, Guilmon, not you too!" Terriermon complained.

"I think MarineAngemon was telling us to look up." Renamon said as she gestured upwards with a slight movement of the head.

"It's the Ark!" Takato exclaimed.

"Really? I thought it was your mum. Thanks for clarifying that." Terriermon said sarcastically.

"Terriermon!" Henry said sternly.

The Tamers and Digimon watched as tracks came down from a white light in the sky and something resembling a big steel elevator slid down them and touched down on the sand.

"It sure looks a lot more different than last time…" Terriermon said.

"It doesn't need to be fancy, just able to get us back." Yamaru noted.

The Tamers and Digimon walked to the elevator-like ark and peered inside to see the same look on the inside as it was on the outside with the exception of rows of seats lining the side and back walls.

"Yep, Yamaki really went all out." Terriermon said as he walked in and sat down.

Everyone else followed him in and sat down. Yamaru and BlackAgumon went to sit down and noticed a larger seat that could fit two people on it. "Guardromon, I think Yamaki gave you a personal seat…" He said to the rust coloured robot.

"Oh, how nice of him." He said.

Takato and Henry had sat on either side of Terriermon and Guilmon beside his Tamer. Terriermon looked across to Takato and pulled on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Hmm? Yeah Terriermon?"

"It's almost time Takatomon…" Terriermon said to the boy using Guilmon's nickname for him.

"Almost time for what?" Asked Ryo.

"Uh, to leave and go back home." Takato lied.

"Yeah, I can't wait!" Monodramon exclaimed excitedly.

The lift made a long droning sound before the Tamers and Digimon could feel movement, signalling that they were on their way home from the Digital World once more.

**Somewhere unknown.**

"You think we should give them a little welcome home party?" Lucemon asked, still staring intently into the orbs that reveal the Tamers actions to him and his company.

"I think we should, but what Digimon do we send?" Belphemon answered with another question.

"How about we send more than one, I mean, how many Tamers will be there at one time? One just isn't enough." Lilithmon interrupted.

"I think I have an idea. I want to test Ryo and Yamaru." Daemon said as he laughed menacingly quiet.

"I shall also send the younger dark one his partner." Lucemon said.

**Digital World – Southern Quadrant – Swamp Level.  
**  
"It's always the same routine day in and day out. Go out and wander around for a while, fight stuff, win, go back to cave and sleep. There's got to be something else, something besides fighting for our lives."

A flash of white that faded into a dark glow exploded near the little Digimon that had been talking to himself and knocked him off his feet. He got up slowly, cradling his sore arm.

"Gee, I wasn't actually expecting anything to happen." He said.

"Ahh, I've found you." Said a deep voice.

"You were looking for me? Specifically?" He asked.

"Yes, in fact I was, BlackGabumon. Let me introduce myself: I am Lucemon." He started with a bow. "You are about to play an epic part in events to unfold in the future. You could even go as far as to say that you're part of a, how to put this… prophecy, if you will." Lucemon said.

"Wow." BlackGabumon said, stunned that something exciting was actually happening to him, ironically after he had just complained about it never happening.

"But, you're adventure won't be in this world, no. I will take you to the human world and introduce you to someone," Lucemon begun before an excited little virus Digimon interrupted him.

"You mean I get to be a Tamed Digimon?" He asked, the excitement in his voice plainly evident.

"Yes. Now are you ready to go?" Lucemon asked.

"Hell yeah!" BlackGabumon shouted.

"Okay, take my hand and we'll be off." Lucemon said, extending his hand out to BlackGabumon who gladly took it. The moment their hands made contact the dark light returned and flashed white before disappearing.

**West Shinjuku – Streets of Shinjuku.**

_'So this Government dude said to get to the fountain in the middle of Shinjuku Park, right? It better have not been prank callers…'_ A young boy thought as he made his way to the park where the famous Tamers had gathered almost every day until their Digimon had been sent back to the Digital World.

He flicked his head to the left quickly to move his hair out of his eye as he rounded a corner and surveyed the shops. _'A tailor. A butcher. A Bakery. Wait; didn't one of the Tamers live in a bakery? Yeah, that Takato one, the leader I think.'_

He continued through the street until he got to another corner and turned right. By now the park had come into view and the boy had decided to check his watch to see how much time he had.

"Crap, it's five to. I better hurry." He said aloud as he took off into a run towards the park.

-

"Seems like everyone is here." Yamaki said as he scanned the surrounding area of all the people standing around, waiting for the return of the four Tamers. Ai and Mako's mother had dropped them off at Hypnos for Yamaki to take them with him to be reunited with Impmon. Kenta, Kazu and Jeri had turned up alongside Takato's parents, Mie and Takehiro. Rika's mother, Rumiko and grandmother, Seiko had been picked up by Janyu Wong, Henry's father who had also brought Henry's sister Suzie.

_'Well, almost everyone. Ryo's father couldn't make it and the Tadanoka boy hasn't arrived yet, assuming he believed me.' _Yamaki thought as he clicked his lighter in an annoyingly rhythmic pattern.

"Sorry…I'm late." Panted a voice from behind.

Yamaki turned to see a boy with shoulder length black hair dressed in a long sleeved, white shirt with small tribal patterns down the arms and blue jeans held up by a belt with the buckle resembling a skull and cross-bones.

"I presume that you are Yamaru's brother, Tahu?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's me. What's this all about anyway?" He questioned the taller, blonde man wearing a suit and shades. "And could ya stop clicking the damned lighter? It's annoying me already."

"Well, aren't you a brave one? Standing up to a government official. What this is all about my dear boy is the Tamers. You know of them right?" Yamaki smirked.

"No, they aren't the group of twelve year olds along with a fourteen year old that saved the world years back or anything." Tahu replied sarcastically.

"Well, anyways, the Tamers recently went to the Digital World to bring back their partners and what they found may surprise you." Yamaki said.

"Why would it have anything to do with me?" He asked as he flicked the hair out of his eye again.

Yamaki was about to answer before a flash of light came from the ground in front of the fountain. He knew that he didn't have to explain anything as Tahu was about to find out very, very soon.

"You're about to see." He said.

Tahu watched on as, out of the ground, a silver lift rose slowly. As it came to a stop, steam flowed out from the bottom and they heard the opening of and closing of doors. Five human-like figures could be made out from the steam and as it cleared, they were identified as Ryo, Yamaru, Henry, Takato and Rika. Everyone was happy for their return for a few moments before realizing that there was no-one else.

"At least you four…uh, five, made it back safely." Yamaki said as he walked over. If one was paying close enough attention, they would have able to notice the smirk on Takato's face. The sound of opening doors was heard again followed by a voice.

"Did you miss me YamYam?" Terriermon giggled as he jumped onto Henry's head.

At the same instant, Renamon materialized by Rika's side and Guilmon walked over to Takato with BlackAgumon, who stood next to Yamaru. The sound of jet engines could be heard as Guardromon descended from the sky. He didn't have time to make a proper landing before Kazu jumped onto him and gripped his cold, metallic body tight.

Guardromon unscrewed his chest compartment and out flew MarineAngemon, straight into a waiting Kenta's arms. The familiar cry of 'nose kisses' was all that Jeri heard before long white ears had wrapped themselves around her face and Calumon started to rub his face against hers, both of them giggling. A small purple imp that had been standing on Gaurdromon's head had been tackled by two objects that he later realized to be his twin Tamers, both of them saying how much they missed him.

"YOU'RE A TAMER?" Tahu yelled, causing reunions to cease and making everyone stare at him. Tahu and Yamaru both walked over to meet each other before Tahu started talking again.

"That's so cool! How come you never told me? Now you get to go and battle evil Digimon and blow stuff up! What's you're mega level? Can you even reach it? What evolution line does your BlackAgumon have?" A multitude of question flew out of Tahu's mouth, excited that his older brother was a Tamer.

"I will answer each question as it was said; you know what mum would say about it unless I thought of a smart way to break it to her. Our mega level is BlackWarGreymon and yes, we can reach it. It goes; BlackAgumon, DarkTyrannomon, SkullGreymon then BlackWarGreymon." He finished.

"Well that was a mouthful!" Terriermon exclaimed.

"Where's Lopmon, Henry?" Suzie said as she tugged her older brother's vest.

"Look behind you." Henry replied.

Excited, Suzie turned around to notice nothing. No-one was there and he had lied to her. She turned around to yell at her brother but instead saw Lopmon sitting on Henry's shoulder.

"Lopmon!" She exclaimed. As soon as the rabbit had jumped down she pulled her into a gentle hug. "Look Lopmon, I don't choke you when I hug you know." She said.

"I missed you so much, Suzie." Lopmon said.

"While we are on the subject of missing, Takato, aren't you missing something in this picture?" Terriermon asked as he moved from Henry's head to the ground at Takato's feet. Takato knew what Terriermon was talking about and made his way over to Rika, who had sat down against the Ark so she could rest her leg.

"Uh…R-Rika?" He stammered.

"Yeah Goggles?"

Different shades of red crossed Takato's face while he tried to put what he needed to say into a coherent sentence. "I was… Would you… Do you want to…?" He stammered once again before he was interrupted by beeping noises coming from D-Arcs all around him.

"No, not now of all times." Henry sighed as he turned to Yamaki. "Get the parents and Yamaru's brother out of here." He ordered.

"No way! I wanna watch." Tahu objected.

"No way, dude. You have to get a safe distance away." Yamaru said.

"Fine." Tahu huffed as he followed Yamaki reluctantly.

"So where's the Digital Field?" Kazu asked as he looked at his D-Arc, which was still beeping.

"I'm not sure. Usually it would've appeared by now." Rika said.

Two bright white lights appeared in the sky before bursting and revealing two figures, a green insectoid with a human figure and what looked to be a yellow armoured Digimon. Ryo gasped when he saw what they looked like.

"Yamaru! Get over here!" He called out to his friend.

"What is it? Do you know these Digimon?" He asked.

"You could say that." He replied as the two Digimon floated down to meet the Tamers.

"We are looking for Ryo Akiyama and Yamaru Tadanoka." The yellow Digimon replied, causing BlackAgumon to growl.

"Well looks like you found 'em, let's go home now…" Terriermon said.

"We have been sent to destroy you both, along with your pathetic Digimon." The green insect Digimon said.

"Looks like my hunch was correct then. Yamaru, the green one is a Stingmon and you already know who the other is." Ryo said.

"Yeah, WarGreymon." He replied.

"You are the Tamer with the BlackAgumon. The only chance you have of defeating me is to Digivolve; now hurry up before I get bored." WarGreymon commanded. Yamaru did as he was told and brought his D-Arc to his chest and fell back onto BlackAgumon as he turned to data and their forms combined,

**"BlackAgumon, Biomerge to…**

The familiar sight of BlackWarGreymon started to take shape as the data of Yamaru and BlackAgumon reconfigured itself. The Dramon Destroyers were clutched in his fists and his Brave Shield that lacked the crest of courage, unlike his opponent's, appeared on his back and split into wings.

**BlackWarGreymon!"**

WarGreymon simply cackled and flew off, making BlackWarGreymon growl and take off after him.

"Monodramon, can you make it to Cyberdramon?" Ryo asked.

"I don't think so Ryo." He replied.

"Okay, we'll just have to Digivolve you into someone you haven't been in a long time then." Ryo said with a smirk as he pulled a Digivolution card out of his deck and slashed it through his D-Arc.

**"Monodramon, Digivolve to…**

A purple and blue data sphere encased Monodramon as a wireframe covered his body and reshaped him to fit his new form, adding data where it needed to go. The sphere broke and in its place stood a tall, purple dragon man wearing green cargo pants. He had a helmet that covered the top half of his head, leaving his mouth and neck exposed. Shoulder length orange and black hair flowed out from under the helmet while metal plates appeared on his hands, feet, pants, shoulders, tail, ankles and upper arms, all of which also had blunt spikes protruding off of them. To complete the commando style look, an orange tribal pattern was printed onto his white chest.

**Strikedramon!"**

"Are you ready, Strikedramon?" Ryo asked.

"As I'll ever be." Strikedramon growled.

"So what do we do?" Kazu complained.

"Nothing, this is their fight; we leave them to it unless they really need our help." Henry said.

"Aw, nuts." Kazu whined.

End Chapter 14.


	15. The nostalgic encounters

Getting Used To It…

Chapter 15: The nostalgic encounters…  
**Shinjuku – Skies above the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.**

"Stop flying away and fight us coward!" BlackWarGreymon screeched at his opponent as they approached the Tokyo Metropolitan Building.

The two dragon warrior Digimon had flown over the skies of Shinjuku, BlackWarGreymon throwing in attacks whenever he had the chance but failing each time as WarGreymon blocked or dodged each and every attack.

"Fine then, our battle shall take place here. Any last words before you and Ryo are terminated?" WarGreymon asked as he raised his Dramon Destroyers, ready to assault Yamaru and BlackAgumon.

"I have a few questions actually, if you don't mind?" Yamaru said from his mutual form.

"I see no harm in it. There is a limit to how much I will let you side-track me though." He advised in an aggressive voice.

"Why are you and Stingmon here?" BlackAgumon queried.

"Simple; to test and if possible we are to destroy you and Ryo." He responded.

"Why us specifically though? Why not the other Tamers as well?" Yamaru asked.

_'There has to be some major reason as to why they were sent after us two specifically. It couldn't have been an older foe of the Tamers, they wouldn't know of me yet. Assuming they have any foes, they practically killed anyone that they came up against.'_ Yamaru thought grimly as he stared his opponent down through the eyes of BlackWarGreymon._ 'Gee, I make them sound like monsters with the way I say it.'_

"The masters want Stingmon and I to test you and Ryo. To see if you are ready for the epic event that is sure to come. As for the others, they will never be truly ready and they will be of no help to you, child of obscurity."WarGreymon looked over his opponent, trying to find out what emotions where going through his mind, desperately trying to spot a weakness.

_'I won't be able to use sheer force against him. He has the power of a human and Digimon within him. This requires a more tactical approach.'_ WarGreymon contemplated.

"Child of obscurity? What are you talking about?" BlackAgumon questioned his lighter coloured foe.

"When the monsters of obscurity and gloom are united, it shall weaken him. When the monsters of kindness and grace are united, it shall destroy him." WarGreymon answered.

"So there's this big prophecy going on and I'm a part of it. Is there any more to this prophecy of yours?" He asked.

"Well of course there is more to it. I'm not going to tell you anymore though. My patience has run thin so now we fight." WarGreymon said as he lunged forward.

**"Great Tornado." **He yelled out, as his body started to spin clockwise, creating a yellow vortex that screamed towards BlackWarGreymon.

**"Black Tornado." **BlackWarGreymon countered as he spun anti-clockwise, creating another vortex almost identical to WarGreymon's except black and silver in colour.

The two tornados clashed into each other and broke apart, causing both combatants to fly back a few meters to regain their composures before attacking again.

**"Black Tornado."**

**"Great Tornado."**

Again, the two tornados conflicted and forced their owner's apart, only for both of them to attack each other again. Both trying to wear the other one out but neither of them letting up.

**"Great Tornado!"**

**"Black Tornado!"**

Both dragon warriors screamed as they once again, sailed towards each other. However, this time BlackAgumon had another idea. As the two attacks were almost at collision point, BlackWarGreymon broke out of his spin and slashed his claws through the air, causing waves of ivory black to soar towards WarGreymon.

**"Dragon Viper!"**

The waves of energy collided with the spinning warrior and sent him flying backwards as he screamed in pain. WarGreymon managed to steady himself before he crashed into any buildings and screamed towards his attacker.

"Let's see how your attack compares to mine!" WarGreymon roared as he slashed his claws through the air in the exact same manner as BlackWarGreymon had done.

**"Dragon Claw!"** He yelled as he came to a stop and sent the flaming yellow waves of energy towards BlackWarGreymon.

Yamaru reached backwards for his shield and brought it up in front of him as he coasted forwards into the energy waves, crashing through them and continuing on. As soon as he had cleared through the waves he placed his shield on his back and continued onwards, raising his claws in front of his face.

**"Dragon Viper!" **He growled as he slashed his claws across WarGreymon's right shoulder, destroying some of the armour which twisted into data.

"You'll pay for that…" WarGreymon mumbled as he pulled BlackWarGreymon into a bear hug and flew upwards, Yamaru and BlackAgumon using their collective might to try and break free, to no avail.

"You better hope that there are no people directly below us. I've tried so hard to keep this battle airborne so the humans won't freak out but you've forced my hand. It's time to eradicate you." WarGreymon said calmly just before he pointed his head down and took off towards the ground as fast as he could.

"YOUR TIME IS UP!" He screeched as he kicked BlackWarGreymon with all of his power, sending his twin opponent towards the ground at break-neck speed.

BlackWarGreymon slammed into ground as the concrete became cracked and destroyed all around him. People looked on through the dust and grit while others fled to safety, dragging excited and startled children with them.

Someone ran over through the smoke to see what could have possibly caused such an impact. Dirt and small flecks of concrete landed on the man but he didn't notice much at all, maybe it was because he was distracted by the black monster with cracked armour that was slowly getting to his feet. Or maybe it was the other similar yellow monster in the sky that was gathering yellow and orange energy between the palms of his hands.

"Get… Out of here… Now…" BlackWarGreymon groaned in agony. The man wasted no time in listening to the sharp clawed monster that could possibly slice him to pieces if it wished.

The ball of energy in WarGreymon's hands had grown to an epic size that he raised above his head. He drew his arms back and then flung them forwards, sending the blast hurtling towards BlackWarGreymon.

**"Terra Force!"**

Yamaru and BlackAgumon flew straight towards the centre of the glowing ball of energy. He burst through the outside and as it absorbed them, it caused him immense pain and suffering, but he never once faltered in his movement. As he bust out of the other side, the blast detonated before it could damage any buildings.

BlackWarGreymon drew closer and closer to a shocked WarGreymon, as he drew even closer he started to spin, creating the familiar black and silver vortex.

**"BLACK TORNADO!"**

His claws, at the tip of the tornado, came into contact with WarGreymon's chest plating and started to drill into it. They pierced through the plating and drilled into his chest with such force that BlackWarGreymon flew right through his rival, leaving a giant gap where his chest once was.

BlackWarGreymon didn't even turn to face his foe when he spoke. "Guess we are worthy then." He murmured.

The edges of the hole in WarGreymon's chest started to turn to data as his body flickered. He smirked as he turned to face his foe.

"You fight well BlackAgumon and Yamaru. You should be proud to be a Greymon." He said before he burst into data and it was left to float away, probably back to the digital world where it would reconfigure to make a new Digimon.

"What did he mean by brothers of darkness…He must mean Tahu but, how does he tie into all of this, he doesn't even have a Digimon." Yamaru noted while he searched his mind for possible answers to the questions he still had.

"He could have meant it figuratively." BlackAgumon said.

"What do you mean?" Yamaru asked.

"Well, by brothers he could mean that two Digimon that are always associated with each other. Like Gekomon and how they are always living with a ShougunGekomon." He explained.

"You could be right. We should head back and check on Ryo." Yamaru said as they landed and dedigivolved so they could walk and not tire themselves out having to stay in their form when unnecessary.

**Somewhere Unknown.**

"I see WarGreymon has lost. Yamaru and BlackAgumon may be ready for what is to come. Ryo and Strikedramon still have their doubts." Belphemon said to the crowd that had gathered.

"What are you talking about?" Lilithmon asked.

"Stingmon is beating them. Strikedramon won't win unless he digivolves to Cyberdramon or someone intervenes. Stingmon is simply too fast. Ryo still has his doubts that Cyberdramon might become battle thirsty and start attacking the others." He clarified.

"This shall be an interesting fight then." Noted a wizard-like Digimon known as Barbamon.

**Shinjuku Park.**

"He's getting his butt kicked! We have to help him!" Kazu yelled.

"I agree with Kazu for once. Strikedramon is taking heavy damage; he just can't keep up with Stingmon." Takato agreed.

"I suppose we should help him then, even he doesn't deserve to be beaten so badly." Rika stated.

"No." Renamon interrupted.

"What?" Henry asked, stunned that Renamon refused to help their friend.

"This is just like when Guilmon was fighting Devidramon, it is his fight and I think there may just be something else going on here that only Yamaru and Ryo can explain." She elaborated.

"Well then they'll have some questions to answer to when they get back." Rika said indignantly.

"Ryo, I could use some help here!" Strikedramon growled as he tried to dodge the barrage of kicks and punches being thrown at him from every angle.

"I'm thinking! Speed cards are useless because he is still faster. Power cards are useless because he is faster. Everything except recharge cards is useless!" Ryo yelled in frustration.

"Why are you doing this?" Strikedramon screamed at his opponent as a kick hit him in the thigh.

The insectoid Digimon stopped his onslaught for a moment as he thought of what to say. "I can only release parts of the information on why I am here. Firstly; I am a test for you as WarGreymon is for Yamaru. Secondly; you and your Digimon are the child and monster grace, although not Strikedramon. Cyberdramon is the one of grace and your only hope of beating me." Stingmon elaborated.

_'But I can't let him become Cyberdramon, Milleniummon is becoming too powerful. If he takes him over as Cyberdramon he'll be almost un-stoppable.' _Ryo thought.

"What are you testing us for?" Strikedramon questioned.

"It is a matter that I'm sure you and your Tamer would prefer to be discussed privately, just in case your friends hear…" Stingmon replied as he walked off further into the park.

"C'mon, we should follow…" Ryo said sternly as he walked after Stingmon with Strikedramon following closely behind.

"Where are they going?" Asked Yamaru as he and BlackAgumon approached Henry, Rika, Takato, Kazu, Kenta and their respective Digimon as well as Impmon who had mostly stayed quiet through all he had witnessed.

"Boy, do you have some explaining to do!' Rika said impatiently while she tapped her foot rhythmically.

_'Damn, that's attractive when she does… Okay, stop it Takato. Wake up.' _Takato thought.

"We'll explain later. Right now, Ryo needs our help." BlackAgumon said.

"Well it's too bad only…" Terriermon started before he was cut off by Renamon's paw covering his mouth.

"What was that about Renamon? I thought you were the one who said this was Ryo's battle." Guilmon said with a confused look.

"True, but I also said this was to do with Yamaru. He should be the one to help Ryo." She said tranquilly.

"Thank you Renamon." Yamaru said as he walked past the Tamers and Digimon in the direction Ryo had followed Stingmon.

"This sucks, I just get Guardromon back, a Digimon threat appears and we don't even get to fight." Kazu whined.

"God I'm sick of you already…" Rika sighed.

"You and me too, sister!" Terriermon agreed while Rika shot him daggers.

Ryo and Strikedramon had followed Stingmon wordlessly until they had reached a clearing with a slight pond off to the left and a big rock in the middle, which Stingmon promptly hurdled onto, showing his dominance in the situation.

"Okay, we're here, so now you'll tell us?" Ryo asked.

"No, the others are not here just yet, but in a few seconds…" He started just as a rustling was heard from the bushes and Yamaru walked out with BlackAgumon in tow.

"Yamaru thought you might have needed help so he was granted permission by the Renamon to come and help. It does not matter though, what needs to be said Yamaru probably knows already." Stingmon said.

"So I guess that you beat WarGreymon then." Strikedramon noted.

"Barely, he was a challenge and I don't think we can biomerge again for a while." BlackAgumon said.

"May I continue?" Stingmon asked while he looked directly up into the sky.

"Of course." Yamaru replied but received no reply.

"I don't think he was talking to us…" BlackAgumon noted.

**Somewhere Unknown.**

"You may tell them some of what you know but not all of it." Daemon commanded.

**Shinjuku Park.**

"One of my masters has permitted me to tell you of what I know." Stingmon said as he took a seated position on the rock.

"You, Yamaru, are the child of obscurity, one of the brothers of darkness. You, Ryo, are the child of grace. My masters know of your trouble with Milleniummon and have sent WarGreymon and I to test you. You have both proved that you are almost ready, Yamaru by defeating WarGreymon and Ryo along with Strikedramon by holding your own against me." He started. "Ryo, you refused to make Strikedramon digivolve and that was a good choice on your part. You did not succumb to my mockery of Strikedramon and that is a sign of a strong Tamer."

"WarGreymon said something about the child of gloom and the child of kindness. Who are they?" BlackAgumon questioned.

"Yamaru already knows who the child of gloom is; he just refuses to admit it. The child of kindness is someone you already know; you are just too blinded to comprehend it just yet." Stingmon explained.

"So that's it then. My brother is the child of gloom. He doesn't even have a Digimon though so how could he be?" Yamaru asked.

"My masters have decided to intervene a little in the events that will take place. One of them being the unity of your brother and his partner. The other being the child of kindness coming into contact with you." Stingmon elaborated even further into the thickening plot.

"Wait… It's Ken!" Ryo bellowed.

"And now you've come to realize who the four are. There is one more that plays a vital role in this endeavour but neither I or my masters know the identity or location of him." Stingmon explained to the small group.

"Great, just when you think that you've figured things out, it just gets more complicated. Why can't prophecies ever be easy to figure out?" BlackAgumon grumbled.

"When will my brother receive his partner?" Yamaru wondered aloud.

"That depends really. Only one of my masters has the ability to leave his domain and when he does, he is extremely weak so it takes a while for him to teleport from place to place. What seems like seconds to him could really be hours or days." Stingmon clarified.

"What about Ken? How will we get into contact with him?" Ryo asked the green insectoid Digimon who still sat cross-legged atop the rock.

"It will be a matter of explaining the situation and creating a Digi-port in which he can transport through." Stingmon explained. "That is all I know. My task is done here. Perhaps we can continue our fight someday Strikedramon." He said.

"Wait, I have one more question. Do your masters know how to get Milleniummon out of Cyberdramon?" Ryo asked quickly.

"I am unsure. You will figure it out soon enough." Stingmon said as he disappeared in a flash of white light.

"Things are never easy for us…" Strikedramon said as he too flashed white but, instead of disappearing, he turned back into Monodramon.

"Rika seemed pretty mad at us for hogging all the action…" Yamaru said as he and Ryo turned to walk back towards where the others were surely waiting.

"Yep, and I've got just the way to make it worse." Ryo said with a smirk.

"Why do I get the feeling that one of us is going to get hit?" Yamaru sighed.

"Hey Takatomon?" Guilmon said to get his friends attention.

Takato and Guilmon had wandered away from his conversation with Kazu and Henry to sit under a nearby tree where he could easily spot Ryo and Yamaru when they returned, but also where he could think without being bothered by anyone except for Guilmon, who was surprisingly quiet up until now.

"Yeah buddy?" Takato responded.

"I was thinking, if it was okay with your parents, that we could have a reunion party with games and so much bread that our tummies exploded." He said, mimicking the action of his stomach exploding.

"That might not be a bad idea, Guilmon. Remind me to ask them when I get home okay?" He said.

"Okay." Guilmon relied enthusiastically.

"Oh look, here comes Ya…" Takato started to say before he was caught off guard by Rika shouting.

"YOU TWO HAVE SOME EXPLAINING!" She shrieked at them.

"Calm down, they said that they wanted to fight the two strongest Tamers and they just happened to choose Yamaru and me." Ryo said with a sly grin on his face while Yamaru sighed and put his head in his hand.

"You are so lucky that I feel bad for Monodramon getting his butt whooped that I'm not gonna kick yours." Rika said threateningly.

"Hey, Takato. You better get over there and _distract _Rika. If you know what I mean." Terriermon said as he swung down from a branch in the tree.

"How long have you been up there?" Guilmon asked.

"Not long. I climbed up there so I could swing down for dramatic effect." He explained.

"Oh." Was Guilmon's reply.

Takato stood up and shakily walked over to Rika and called out her name to get her attention. "R-R-Rika?" He stuttered.

"Uh, yeah goggles?" She replied uncertainly.

"Uh… would you like to… Come to a reunion party at my house sometime in the next few days?" He asked, steering away from the intended question, much to Terriermon's disappointment.

"What a wuss." He muttered to himself.

"Oh… Sure, I guess. Just, you know, tell me the day and yeah…" She replied.

"Hey what about us?" Kenta interrupted.

"Oh, yeah, I was getting to you guys." Takato lied as he had actually forgotten about everyone else as he had been looking at Rika.

"Of course Kenta and I can make it, chumley." Kazu said cheerfully.

"I'll bring Suzie with me then." Henry stated.

"You should come too, Yamaru. I know I said it was a reunion party but you're a Tamer now and we're a team." Takato said to the brown haired boy.

"Really? Thanks Takato, where do you live though?" Yamaru asked him, quite unsure of weather he was the one that lived in the bakery or not.

"It's not far from here actually. The Matsuki Bakery." He replied.

"What about you, Ryo?" Henry asked.

"I don't think I'll be able to make it. My dad would be mad for me leaving without telling him and Monodramon is pretty banged up, sorry." He apologised unhappily.

"Yeah, poor guy." Henry agreed.

"I guess we should be heading home. Our parents would be worried sick, they just got us back and we got into a fight that we didn't actually fight in…" Rika said.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys at my house on like, Saturday night?" Takato asked the group.

"Saturday is fine with us, Takato." Kenta replied as he and Kazu walked off with Guardromon and MarineAngemon.

"Fine with me too." Yamaru agreed. "Now to go look for my brother…" He sighed as he walked away. "Knowing him, he hasn't gone home and he's walking around somewhere."

"See you Saturday." Henry called as he waved goodbye.

"I'll uh… See you then… Takato." Rika said as she brushed and walked off hastily.

"Did she just call me Takato for once?" He asked no one.

"Yeah, and Henry forgot me!" Terriermon pouted.

"Are you sure he forgot you Terriermon?" Takato asked mockingly while Guilmon tried to stifle a laugh.

"Hey, be quiet wussy boy. You better ask her next time, you promised." Terriermon said. He then ran off to catch up with Henry as Takato and Guilmon walked to the bakery.

**Shinjuku – Streets of Shinjuku.**

"Man, my brother, a Tamer!" Tahu said to himself as he walked through the streets of Shinjuku, contemplating on how his brother could have hidden it from him all this time.

"Yes, that's right; your brother is a Tamer. A wonderful Tamer actually." Said a voice from a narrow side street.

"Who's there?" Tahu called.

"How would you like to be a Tamer young man?" Asked the deep voice as Tahu walked into the side street.

"Oh no, who'd ever want to be a damned Tamer?" Tahu said sarcastically.

"You humans do amaze me sometimes." Said the voice as two figures appeared in front of the young boy. One an angelic looking man who had black and white wings on different sides of his body, the other a small black reptile Digimon wearing what seemed to be a fur coat. The angelic Digimon disappeared and only the small reptile was left.

Tahu bent down to the little Digimon to examine him. "Who are you?" He asked inquisitively.

"I am BlackGabumon, nice to meet you." BlackGabumon said as he extended his paw out for Tahu to shake.

"I'm Tahu Tadanoka; it's great to meet you too." He said as he clasped his hand firmly in BlackGabumon's. As their hands made contact a bright light shone from Tahu's belt and he felt something shift around.

"Huh? That's my phone… What the heck is it doing?" He wondered as he pulled it out, only, it wasn't his phone it was a small black device with three grey buttons and a white ring around a square screen.

"This is… This is a… It's one of those things that my brother had clipped to his belt all the time!" Tahu exclaimed excitedly.

"I believe that's called a D-Arc." Yamaru said from behind his brother. "I've been looking everywhere for you and then I heard some shouting and figured that was my best bet. Looks like I was right, also looks like you're a Tamer now." Yamaru said with a large smile.

"Yeah, it's so cool! I get to be partners with BlackGabumon!" Tahu said as he pumped a fist into the air.

"BlackGabumon?" BlackAgumon asked.

"Is that you, BlackAgumon?" The reptile asked as he walked out from behind Tahu. "It is you!" He called as the two Digimon ran over to each other and high fived.

"You two know each other?" Tahu asked surprised.

"Yeah, we used to spar with each other all the time in the swamp level." BlackGabumon exclaimed.

"How quaint. Anyway, we better get home; mum will be waiting for us." Yamaru said to his younger brother as he walked out of the narrow street.

"How are we going to explain to Digimon to her?" Tahu asked.

"I haven't the slightest clue." Yamaru said with a chuckle.

_'So it's settled. Tahu is now a Tamer which means he is the child of gloom. We just need to contact Ken somehow and find a way to release Milleniummon. But where could we release him? Definitely not in any town or city, he could cause too much destruction. Ugh… I'm too lazy to deal with this stuff.'_

**Odaiba – Soccer fields.**

A young blue haired boy sat down on the seats at the soccer fields, watching his team play while he waited to be switched on. A green worm-like creature sitting on the bench beside him, watching his friends' teammates kick the ball up and down the field, dodging the opposing teams' members so they could score a goal.

"I'll never understand why you like soccer so much, Ken." The worm Digimon said as he looked up to his partner.

"I don't expect yo to Wormmon. It's just fun I suppose." He replied with a small chuckle.

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

"Huh? Ken your D-Terminal is getting a message." Wormmon said.

"It's probably from Davis sending me another one of those _funny _cat pictures." He said sarcastically, putting emphasis on the word 'funny'.

"Huh… It's not from Davis." Ken muttered as he opened the message.

**"It's been a long time, Ichijouji.**

**I hope you remember me; after all, you were the one who sent me back to that damned place and ruined my attempt at obtaining the dark spore.**

"No, it can't be…"

**But, alas, this isn't about revenge. This is about much more pressing matters. Your old friend Ryo is in trouble, Milleniummon is making a comeback and is trying to take over Cyberdramon. Long story short; get to your computer and travel to the Digital World as you normally would. This is of the utmost urgency and needs to be dealt with. Milleniummon is a threat even to me.**

**Sincerest regards;**  
**Daemon.**  
**xxxooo"**

"What is it Ken?" Wormmon asked, worried by the look on his friends' face.

"It's a message from Daemon but, that's not what bothers me. He says that Milleniummon is coming back and that Ryo needs my…Our help." He responded.

"Do you think it's a trick?" Wormmon asked.

"Actually, I don't think it is. C'mon, we need to head home and tell mum that we'll be going camping or something like that." Ken said as he picked up his soccer bag in one hand and Wormmon in the other and walked away from the soccer fields.

"Are you going to tell any of the others?" Wormmon asked, yet again worrying about something.

"Nope, mum will tell them that I've gone camping. If I don't tell mum where I'm camping then she can't tell them and they won't look for us. Well, Davis Veemon won't, they're way too lazy." Ken chuckled.

_'But still, why would Daemon want me to help. Surely Milleniummon can't reach him in the Black Ocean World?'_

End of Book 1.

**_I've decided from the very beginning of writing this story that I would end the story here with a few cliff-hangers. :D Over the course of writing this story, I tried to develop my writing skill as well as make chapters larger and more informative._**

**_I'd like to thank my Girlfriend for being so supportive of my story as well as Sentinel07 for reviewing every single chapter that I posted and helping me correct mistakes that I had made that I failed to pick up on._**

**_I'll start writing the second book once I plan it out just a little more and it should be just as exciting with a lot more of Terriermon, that devious little rabbit-dog thingy._**

**_Thank you for reading through my first story! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it._**

**_-DigitalWarrior96_**


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